Between 3 June 1982 and 8 July 1985, a stake net consisting of up to 32 stakes covering the greater part of Storglaciären was surveyed 70 times, yielding roughly 2000 separate determinations of vertical and horizontal velocity. The time interval between surveys averaged about 1 week during the summer and 2 months during the winter.

Horizontal velocities were normally highest during periods of high daily temperature or heavy rain early in the melt season. Comparable or sometimes higher temperatures or rainfalls later in the season usually had less effect, though minor velocity peaks were often present in August and early September. During periods for which bore-hole water-level measurements are available, velocity peaks generally coincided with periods of high basal water pressure, but not all periods of high water pressure resulted in velocity peaks. Despite increasing basal water pressures, velocity decreased gradually during the winter.

Vertical velocities also vary seasonally. Beneath the upper part of the ablation area the glacier bed is overdeepened. Vertical velocities here are ˜3 mm/d higher during the summer. Down-glacier from the overdeepening, vertical velocities are ˜1 mm/d lower during the summer. These and other characteristics of the vertical velocity pattern are best explained by appealing to: (1) a decrease in strain-rate with depth, and (2) seasonal variations in this depth-dependence.

Five periods of high velocity lasting from 3 to 11d were studied in detail. In an area where the bed is overdeepened, force-balance calculations suggest that basal drag decreased between 16 and 40% during these high-velocity events. This resulted in a decrease in compressive strain-rate at the up-glacier end of the overdeepening, an increase at the down-glacier end, and a slight increase in lateral shear strain-rates. Down-glacier from the overdeepening, basal drag increased during two events owing to an increased push from up-glacier and pull from down-glacier. Lateral shear strain-rates increased sharply here.

Simple analytical models are developed in order to study how up-stream variations in accumulation rate and ice thickness, and horizontal convergence/ divergence of the flow influence the age and annual layer-thickness profiles in a steady-state ice sheet. Generally, a decrease/increase of the accumulation rate and an increase/decrease of the ice thickness in the up-stream direction (i.e. opposite to the flow direction) results in older/younger ice at a given depth in the ice sheet than would result if the up-stream accumulation rate and ice thickness were constant along the flow line.

Convergence/divergence of the up-stream flow will decrease/increase the effect of the accumulation-rate and ice-thickness gradients, whereas convergence/divergence has no influence at all on the age and layer-thickness profiles if the up-stream accumulation rate and ice thickness are constant along the flow line.

A modified column-flow model, i.e. a model for which the strain-rate profile (or, equivalently, the horizontal velocity profile) is constant down to the depth corresponding to the Holocene/Wisconsinan transition 10 750 year BP., seems to work well for dating the ice back to 10 000–11 000 year B P. at sites in the slope regions of the Greenland ice sheet. For example, the model predicts the experimentally determined age profile at Dye 3 on the south Greenland ice sheet with a relative root-mean-square error of only 3% back to c. 10 700 year B.P. As illustrated by the Milcent location on the western slope of the central Greenland ice sheet, neglecting up-stream accumulation-rate and ice-thickness gradients, may lead to dating errors as large as 3000–000 years for c. 10 000 year old ice.

However, even if these gradients are taken into account, the simple model fails to give acceptable ages for 10 000 year old ice at locations on slightly sloping ice ridges with strongly divergent flow, as for example the Camp Century location. The main reason for this failure is that the site of origin of the ice cannot be determined accurately enough by the simple models, if the flow is strongly divergent.

With this exception, the simple models are well suited for dating the ice at locations where the available data or the required accuracy do not justify application of elaborate numerical models. The formulae derived for the age-depth profiles can easily be worked out on a pocket calculator, and in many cases will be a sensible alternative to using numerical flow models.

Analysis of the likely behavior of a water system developed between ice and an unconsolidated glacier bed suggests that, in the absence of channelized sources of melt water, the system will approximate a film of varying thickness. The effective pressure in such a film will be proportional to the basal shear stress but inversely proportional to the fraction of the bed occupied by the film. These hypotheses allow calculation of the sliding and bed-deformation velocities of a glacier from the water supply and basal shear stress, as discussed in the second and third papers in this series.

An equation for prediction of annual avalanche mass was tested on nine avalanche paths in the Kaghan area of the Himalaya in Pakistan. The predicted masses were compared to measured avalanche-deposit masses produced during two winters (1985–86, 1986–87). The results indicate that, while the annual mass of avalanches could be predicted relatively well on the very large paths in the study area, significant over- and underestimation occurs on other paths. The average yield coefficient, or proportion of snow in the catchment which avalanches, is 0.0991 m−3. This figure varies significantly between paths but generally less between two winters on any given path. More accurate determination of annual avalanche masses in the study area requires both improved measurements of the equation parameters, as well as refinement of the empirically derived yield coefficient to reflect better the terrain and winter climatic conditions in the region.

In work presented in 1883 and published in full in 1894, W.J. McGee made one of the first clear attempts to outline the main morphologic differences between glaciated valleys and valleys developed by processes dominant in more temperate areas. Moreover, with an unprecedented analysis of glacial erosion, he attempted for the first time to explain the evolution of glacial land forms in terms of theoretical predictions of patterns of erosion under valley glaciers. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, there was fierce debate over whether glaciers were even capable of significant erosion, so it is perhaps not surprising that McGee’s analysis of glacial erosion processes and land-form development received little attention in his own time. Despite this, McGee’s work provided some of the first really convincing glacial explanations for the development of land forms such as hanging valleys and U-shaped valleys, and these were developed more fully in later work by Davis (1900) and Gilbert (1903). In modern research, the use of theoretical erosion laws and a knowledge of ice dynamics to develop models of land-form development is emerging as a major theme in glacial geomorphology, marking a return to the methodology pioneered by W.J. McGee.

Basal motion of a glacier resting on an unconsolidated bed can arise from sliding between ice and bed, ploughing of clasts through the upper layer of the bed, pervasive deformation of the bed, or shearing across discrete planes in the bed. Theoretical analyses and limited observations of soft-bedded glaciers not dominated by supply of channelized melt water from the surface suggest that sliding will be slow if the bed contains abundant clasts in the 1–10 mm size range, and that high velocities by ploughing are unlikely though possible. Pervasive deformation usually will account for 60–100% of the basal velocity, and the strain-rate will be proportional to the basal shear stress and inversely proportional to the square or cube of the effective pressure. These hypotheses are based on results of part I in this series, and allow modeling of Ice Stream B, West Antarctica, in part III of this series.

Annual ablation on Qamanârssûp sermia, West Greenland, varies with year and location. The time variation of ablation at any stake consists of climate signal and noise due to errors and local topography. Variations of ablation at different stakes are positively correlated with each other with inter-stake correlation coefficients depending on the relative magnitudes of climate signal and noise. Inter-stake correlations and noise are very sensitive to gross errors in the data, while climate signal is less sensitive. Low values of inter-stake correlations are used to detect suspect data, and elimination of such data reduces the noise standard deviation from ±0.40 to ±0.28 m water a−1 for 6 years of record compared with a climate signal of ±0.55 m water a−1. The climate signal on Qamanârssûp is positively correlated with summer mean temperature and negatively correlated with annual precipitation. This shows that even a sparse stake network as at Qamanârssûp sermia gives useful glacier-climate information which can be applied to studies of both glacier hydrology and greenhouse effect.

Bending shear was observed to produce nearly vertical shear bands in a calving ice wall standing on dry land on Deception Island (lat. 63.0°S., long. 60.6 W.), and slabs calved straight downward when shear rupture occurred along these shear bands (Hughes, 1989). A formula for the calving rate was developed from the Deception Island data, and we have attempted to justify generalizing this formula to include ice walls standing along beaches or in water. These are environments in which a wave-washed groove develops along the base of the ice wall or along a water line above the base. The rate of wave erosion provides an alternative mechanism for controlling the calving rate in these environments. We have determined that the rate at which bending creep produces nearly vertical shear bands, along which shear rupture occurs, controls the calving rate in all environments. Shear rupture occurs at a calving shear stress of about 1 bar. Our results justify using the calving formula to compute the calving rate of ice walls in computer models of ice-sheet dynamics. This is especially important in simulating retreat of Northern Hemisphere ice sheets during the last deglaciation, when marine and lacustrine environments were common along retreating ice margins. These margins would have been ice walls standing along beaches or in water, because floating ice shelves are not expected in the ablation zone of retreating ice sheets.

Geophysical studies and glaciological analyses suggest strongly that Ice Stream B, West Antarctica, moves primarily by pervasive deformation of a meters thick subglacial till. Analysis of the longitudinal profile of the ice stream up-stream of the ice plain suggests that basal sliding is slow everywhere, that effective pressure decreases slowly down-stream, and that the strain-rate of pervasive shear is proportional to the basal shear stress and inversely proportional to the square or cube of the effective pressure. Discrete shearing may occur beneath the pervasively deforming zone. These and other hypotheses, which build on the analyses of the first two papers in this series, can be tested in the field.

We present here a shear-creep apparatus. This has been designed to study grain-boundary behaviour in ice bi-crystals. The design and dimensions of this apparatus were determined by taking into account the results of earlier tests, performed on the same types of sample. Improvement with the new device is obtained; it allows a displacement with two degrees of freedom in the grain-boundary plane, and direct observations of micro-structural changes during the test.

By comparing modelled and averaged satellite altimeter return, it is demonstrated that time profiles of altimeter return can be used to provide important information on the surface properties of the ice sheets. Altimeter ice-sheet radar echoes from low altitudes and/or relatively low latitudes are, in general, dominated by surface scattering and, in Greenland, the area of surface-dominated return broadly coincides with the zone of summer melting. Seasonal variations in the echo wave-form shapes are negligible in all regions studied, with the possible exception of an area near the margin of the Greenland dry-snow zone. In general, the model explains well the observed variations in mean wave-form shape, but small discrepances between the model wave forms and the recorded wave forms indicate that sub-surface layers may be influencing the shape of the return. The possibility of deriving quantitative estimates of surface properties is explored by fitting model returns to averaged altimeter wave forms from the Wilkes Land plateau in Antarctica. Surface roughness can be measured unambiguously from the wave-form data, but estimations of other parameters, such as grain-size, snow density, and snow temperature are found to be ambiguous because different surface parameters have a similar influence on the shape of the return. Despite this, the derived estimates compare well with ground-based observations and suggest that the satellite altimeter may have an important role to play in providing information on the surface properties of the ice sheets.

We have constructed a back-portable, impulse radar instrument that weighs roughly 12 kg, can be powered by dry cells, and records and stores data digitally. The radar is controlled by an on-board, purpose-built microcomputer that ensures simple field operation, facilitates modifications, and allows unattended operation when investigating time-varying targets. The transmitting unit is triggered from the receiver via an optical link and generates an electromagnetic wavelet by discharging two high-voltage capacitors through back-to-back silicon-controlled rectifiers into a resistively loaded dipole antenna. Successful field operations carried out during the summers of 1986 and 1987 include depth profiling, as well as studies of englacial and subglacial targets, on several temperate and sub-polar glaciers.

Four medial moraines on three glaciers in Jotunheimen, Norway, are described. The structure and debris characteristics of the moraines allow three debris-transport routes to be identified: (1) discrete concentrated longitudinal septa containing subglacially comminuted debris; (2) diffuse longitudinal septa containing passively englacially transported debris; and (3) supraglacially transported spreads containing rock-fall debris entrained below the firn line. Two of the moraines, occurring down-glacier of nunataks, are nourished by a combination of (1) and (3). The remaining two moraines are nourished solely by englacially transported rock-fall debris (2). Transport routes (1) and (2) represent two distinct types of longitudinal englacial debris septum. The contribution of debris from more than one glacial transport path to single medial moraines indicates the value of a flexible, process-based approach towards moraine classification, with emphasis on the dynamic links between basin morphology, glacial debris entrainment, and moraine characteristics.

White synchrotron X-radiation topography has been used to observe the motion of dislocations in single crystals of ice under a compressive stress in the [1100] direction, for which there is no resolved stress on the basal plane. Dislocations with [1210] and [2110] Burgers vectors were nucleated from surface scratches, and their edge components were observed to glide on non-basal planes, which may be prismatic or may have unspecific pyramidal character. Screw components are not mobile on such planes.