Debris bands associated with supraglacial moraines and associated basal deposits have been logged and sampled for their ice and debris at three glaciers in northwest Spitsbergen, Svalbard. Physical properties, including sediment concentrations, sediment particle-size distributions, clast macro-fabrics, and oxygen isotope compositions, indicate that all transverse and some longitudinal debris bands originate from the basal zone of these glaciers. Transverse supraglacial bands are composed of extensive stratified-facies basal ice that is enriched in 18O and which contains polymodal debris with spatially consistent clast fabrics. These properties suggest initial formation as basal ice and subsequent elevation into an englacial position by thrusting rather than formation as crevasse fills. The formation of longitudinal debris bands results from laterally compressive folding in response to the convergence of multiple flow units into a narrow glacier tongue. In common with transverse debris bands, longitudinal bands appear to be composed of stratified basal ice. The bands exposed at the surface of austre Brøggerbreen comprise two subfacies, strongly suggesting that the glacier was at least partially warm-based in the past, when the basal ice formed.

A new snow—soil—vegetation—atmosphere transfer (Snow-SVAT) scheme, which simulates the accumulation and ablation of the snow cover beneath a forest canopy, is presented. The model was formulated by coupling a canopy optical and thermal radiation model to a physically based multi-layer snow model. This canopy radiation model is physically based yet requires few parameters, so can be used when extensive in situ field measurements are not available. Other forest effects such as the reduction of wind speed, interception of snow on the canopy and the deposition of litter were incorporated within this combined model, SNOWCAN, which was tested with data taken as part of the Boreal Ecosystem—Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) international collaborative experiment. Snow depths beneath four different canopy types and at an open site were simulated. Agreement between observed and simulated snow depths was generally good, with correlation coefficients ranging between r2 = 0.94 and r2 = 0.98 for all sites where automatic measurements were available. However, the simulated date of total snowpack ablation generally occurred later than the observed date. A comparison between simulated solar radiation and limited measurements of sub-canopy radiation at one site indicates that the model simulates the sub-canopy downwelling solar radiation early in the season to within measurement uncertainty.

A new model of isotopic diffusion in the upper few meters of firn tracks the isotopic composition of both the ice matrix and the pore-space vapor through time in two dimensions. Stable isotopes in the vapor phase move through the firn by diffusion along concentration gradients and by advection. Wind-driven ventilation carries atmospheric water vapor into the firn, where it mixes with existing pore-space vapor. Unlike previous models, our model allows disequilibrium between pore-space vapor and the surrounding snow grains. We also calculate the isotopic effects of ventilation-driven sublimation and condensation in the firn. Model predictions of isotopic diffusion in firn compare favorably with existing diffusion models. Model results quantify what other investigators have suggested: isotopic change in the upper few meters is more rapid than can be explained by the Whillans and Grootes (1985) model; isotopic equilibration with atmospheric vapor is an important component of post-depositional isotopic change; and ventilation enhances isotopic exchange by creating regions of relatively rapid sublimation and condensation in the firn.

An ice shove along the Alaskan Chukchi Sea coast occurred in June 2001, affecting the communities of Barrow and Wainwright, some 150 km apart. Aerial photography before and after the event allowed measurement of ice displacement vectors near Barrow where up to 395 m of ice motion was accommodated almost entirely in discrete ridges up to 5 m high. The forces required to build these ridges are estimated at 35−62 kN m-1, and driving forces of the whole event are investigated. Most ice deformation at or near the beach coincided with local onshore winds, but the event was preceded by the compaction of pack ice in the central Chukchi Sea and the closure of the coastal flaw lead, driven by the larger-scale wind field acting over several days beforehand. Whether this acted to impart pack-ice stress to the coast or simply to create a critical fetch of consolidated ice is uncertain. The near-melting near-isothermal state of the ice may have been a complicit factor and affected the behavior of the land-fast ice. Coastal morphology and bathymetry affected the location of deformation. This study highlights the range of scales at which processes act and culminate to have implications for Arctic communities.

We investigate the mechanics of ice-stream shear margins based on the assumption that the underlying bed behaves plastically. Sliding is assumed to occur if a prescribed, locally defined yield stress is attained, while no sliding is assumed possible if basal shear stress is lower than the yield stress. Mathematically, the ice-flow problem takes the form of a contact problem, in which the zones of sliding are part of the solution and cannot be prescribed arbitrarily. Simplistic assumptions about the location of till failure, or about mechanical conditions at the bed, predict stress singularities at the margins which lead to corresponding singularities in the basal melt rate. The ice-flow problem is solved using a complex variable method, and an associated quasi-static thermal problem is also solved using a Green’s function. High stress concentrations, which coincide with high rates of strain heating, are found on the ice-stream side of the margins, where basal melting is also greatest. Our results further indicate that a temperate zone may form over time above the bed in the margins. These findings differ from earlier studies based on different sliding laws, suggesting a high sensitivity of margin behaviour to basal conditions.

We estimate Antarctic ice-flow balance velocities, which are the average speeds that ice must flow downslope through a volume assuming that there are equal amounts of ice entering and leaving the ice volume. We use the OSU (Ohio State University) digital elevation model of Antarctica, recent ice accumulation rate data and the BEDMAP ice-thickness data compilations for Antarctica to characterize the physical properties of the ice sheet that are included in the balance-velocity calculation. We adapt a flux algorithm from the hydrology literature that enables us to calculate the flux distribution from any cell in any order. Flux from one cell to its neighbors is partitioned as a simple function of surface slope direction. Digitized flow-stripe directions from satellite images minimize errors in flow direction where surface slopes are low or complex. We estimate errors in balance velocity arising from errors in the data and show semi-quantitatively how properties of the algorithm bias the balance-velocity result. We find a favorable comparison between our model and observed velocity data as well as the balance-velocity patterns reported by other researchers.

A two-dimensional array of electrical conductivity measurements (ECM) has been used to image the acidity of the Siple Dome (Antarctica) ice core in a vertical plane. Annual layering and possible stratigraphic discontinuities are apparent. A brief disruption to the chemical stratigraphy is detected at 680 m. Below 800 m, weaker layering occurs and is interpreted as the result of post-depositional migration of chemical species. This technique provides a way to observe the horizontal continuity of chemical layers in an ice core and identify some types of flow irregularity.

Geophysical inverse methods are used to calculate the basal motion of a glacier. They are applied to a one-dimensional forward model that can be linearized to make the analysis simpler. The inverse method finds a solution that fits the data within a given error. It selects for smooth solutions to discriminate against unrealistic oscillations. The method is applied to a simple model glacier of uniform shape and thickness to test how well a given basal motion field can be reconstructed. It shows, as expected, that optimizing for smoothness lowers maxima and increases minima of the solution. A step change in basal velocity is drawn out in the inversion over a distance that is given by the half-width of a resolving function. This is typically about three times the ice thickness, but is also affected by the sampling rate of the data. The method is then applied to two glaciers where suitable data are available: Brown Glacier on Heard Island, southern Indian Ocean, and McCall Glacier in the Brooks Range, Alaska, U.S.A. The McCall results agree well with earlier estimates of basal motion.

The densification of dry polar snow and firn results in a continuous increase of density with depth accompanied by significant density fluctuations within seasonal layers. Density measurements of high spatial resolution reveal a persistent minimum of density fluctuations in the vicinity of the snow–firn transition (0.55–0.65 g cm-3) in firn-core records. In this study we give an explanation for the fluctuation minimum by applying a new method of X-ray microtomography to obtain three-dimensional (3-D) structural data of a Greenland firn core. At 13 different depths between 10 and 78 m a set of 16 samples of 40 cm total length for each depth interval was measured. A reconstructed firn segment of 40 cm covers 1–2 years of snow accumulation. Using digital image analysis techniques, different structural parameters are estimated including 3-D pore and particle sizes and specific surface areas. It is shown that the densification rates of snow and firn layers consisting of coarse particles are much higher than those consisting of fine particles within the same depth interval. This causes a density crossing of fine- and coarse-grained layers with a minimum of density variations at the crossover point. This crossing-over implies that formerly dense layers in the seasonal density signal are not of the same origin as dense layers in the deeper part of the firn column and that the seasonal density signal will totally change shape with depth. It is speculated that in coarse- and fine-grained firn the dominant mechanism of densification acts over different regimes of density.

A vertical temperature profile through the West Antarctic ice sheet (WAIS) at the summit of Siple Dome reveals an elevated geothermal flux. This could be the root cause for the existence of a dynamic ice-stream system in the WAIS. Siple Dome is still frozen on its bed, but adjacent ice streams have bed temperatures at the pressure-melting point of ice. Although present-day temperature increases due to climatic change do not have an immediate effect on the basal conditions that control the velocity of the ice, indirect effects like a rapid disintegration of the floating ice shelves or additional melt-water input at the surface could give rise to speed-up of the ice streams with an ensuing rise in sea level. Ongoing melt at the base of the ice and changes at the margins will allow continued rapid flow of the ice streams with a possibility of disintegration, within a relatively short period of time, of at least part of the WAIS.

Over the period 1972–98 the height of the snow surface at eight Antarctic sites in Palmer Land and on Alexander Island has been measured with respect to fixed points on local nunataks. From these data an empirical relation between height changes over a given period and three key variables has been derived. These variables are (i) the local mean annual surface air temperature, (ii) a regional estimate of energy available for melt over the period (derived from the nearby Rothera air-temperature record) and (iii) a regional estimate of accumulation over the period (derived from the nearby Gomez Nunatak ice-core accumulation record). Using this relation, the contribution of the Antarctic Peninsula to sea-level rise for warming from climatic conditions (averaged over the last 30 years) is estimated to be −0.006 ± 0.002 mm a−1 K−1. If recent warm conditions persist, however, and meltwater can run off to the sea, the contribution to sea-level rise from ablation is calculated to be 0.07 ± 0.02 mm a−1 K−1.

Investigating snow avalanches using a purely statistical approach raises several issues. First, even in the heavily populated areas of the Alps, there are few data on avalanche motion or extension. Second, most of the field data are related to the point of furthest reach in the avalanche path (run-out distance or altitude). As data of this kind are tightly dependent on the avalanche path profile, it is a priori not permissible to extrapolate the cumulative distribution function fitted to these data without severe restrictions or further assumptions. Using deterministic models is also problematic, as these are not really physically based models. For instance, they do not include all the phenomena occurring in the avalanche movement, and the rheological behaviour of the snow is not known. Consequently, it is not easy to predetermine extreme-event extensions. Here, in order to overcome this problem, we propose to use a conceptual approach. First, using an avalanche-dynamics numerical model, we fitted the model parameters (friction coefficients and the volume of snow involved in the avalanches) to the field data. Then, using these parameters as random variables, we adjusted appropriate statistical distributions. The last steps involved simulating a large number of (fictitious) avalanches using the Monte Carlo approach. Thus, the cumulative distribution function of the run-out distance can be computed over a much broader range than was initially possible with the historical data. In this paper, we develop the proposed method through a complete case study, comparing two different models.

This paper presents an overview of firn accumulation in Dronning Maud Land (DML), Antarctica, over the past 1000 years. It is based on a chronology established with dated volcanogenic horizons detected by dielectric profiling of six medium-length firn cores. In 1998 the British Antarctic Survey retrieved a medium-length firn core from western DML. During the Nordic EPICA (European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica) traverse of 2000/01, a 160 m long firn core was drilled in eastern DML. Together with previously published data from four other medium-length ice cores from the area, these cores yield 50 possible volcanogenic horizons. All six firn cores cover a mutual time record until the 29th eruption. This overlapping period represents a period of approximately 1000 years, with mean values ranging between 43 and 71 mm w.e. The cores revealed no significant trend in snow accumulation. Running averages over 50 years, averaged over the six cores, indicate temporal variations of5%. All cores display evidence of a minimum in the mean annual firn accumulation rate around AD 1500 and maxima around AD 1400 and 1800. The mean increase over the early 20th century was the strongest increase, but the absolute accumulation rate was not much higher than around AD 1400. In eastern DML a 13% increase is observed for the second half of the 20th century.

The behavior of majorions, δ18O, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and trace elements was studied during the initial freezing of low-saline water (3 practical salinity units) in a freezing experiment. Samples were also collected from first-year sea ice from pack ice in the Bothnian Bay, northern Baltic Sea. During initial ice formation, the major-ion ratios in sea ice indicated variable behavior, with some ions showing relative enrichment (sulfate, calcium and magnesium), conservative behavior (sodium) or relative depletion (potassium) compared to sea water at the same salinity. DOC, iron and aluminum showed enrichment in the ice, while zinc was depleted to salinity. Lead was detected in surface snow-ice layers only, implying atmospheric accumulation. First-year sea ice, with a variable growth and thermal history, showed behavior for major ions similar to that observed in new ice. However, for trace elements the picture was much more complicated, most likely due to active secondary processes such as atmospheric supply and biological activity. Ice growth has a potential impact on the chemical budgets and cycling of some elements, especially those which are selectively rejected/retained during sea-ice formation, particularly in the shallow parts of the Bothnian Bay covered with a land-fast ice cover.

An instrument is described that automatically records ice ablation while eliminating the need for ablation stakes. A pressure transducer placed at the bottom of a hole drilled into the ice is connected by a hose to a bladder lying on the surface. Ice ablation is detected as a reduction in the hydrostatic pressure measured by the transducer.