Tidewater glaciers have been observed to experience instantaneous, stepwise increases in velocity during iceberg-calving events due to a loss of resistive stresses. These changes in stress can potentially impact tidewater glacier stability by promoting additional calving and affecting the viscous delivery of ice to the terminus. Using flow models and perturbation theory, we demonstrate that calving events and subsequent terminus readvance produce quasi-periodic, sawtooth oscillations in stress that originate at the terminus and propagate upstream. The stress perturbations travel at speeds much greater than the glacier velocities and, for laterally resisted glaciers, rapidly decay within a few ice thickness of the terminus. Consequently, because terminus fluctuations due to individual calving events tend to be much higher frequency than climate variations, individual calving events have little direct impact on the viscous delivery of ice to the terminus. This suggests that the primary mechanism by which calving events can trigger instability is by causing fluctuations in stress that weaken the ice and lead to additional calving and sustained terminus retreat. Our results further demonstrate a stronger response to calving events in simulations that include the full stress tensor, highlighting the importance of accounting for higher order stresses when developing calving parameterizations.

The influence of surface melt on the flow of Greenland's largest outlet glaciers remains poorly known and in situ observations are few. We use field observations to link surface meltwater forcing to glacier-wide diurnal velocity variations on East Greenland's Helheim Glacier over two summer melt seasons. We observe diurnal variations in glacier speed that peak ~6.5 h after daily maximum insolation and extend from the terminus region to the equilibrium line. Both the amplitude of the diurnal speed variation and its sensitivity to daily melt are largest at the glacier terminus and decrease up-glacier, suggesting that the magnitude of the response is controlled not only by melt input volume and temporal variability, but also by background effective pressure, which approaches zero at the terminus. Our results provide evidence that basal lubrication by meltwater drives diurnal velocity variations at Greenland's marine-terminating glaciers in a similar manner to alpine glaciers and Greenland's land-terminating outlet glaciers.

Liquid water can exist at temperatures well below freezing beneath glaciers and ice sheets, where subglacial water systems, fresh and saline, have been shown to host unique microbial ecosystems. Geophysical techniques sensitive to fluid-content contrasts, e.g. electromagnetics, can characterize subglacial water and its salinity. Here, we assess the ground-based transient electromagnetic (TEM) method for deriving the resistivity and salinity of subglacial water. We adapt an existing open-source Bayesian inversion algorithm, which uses independent depth constraints, to output posterior distributions of resistivity and pore fluid salinity with depth. A variety of synthetic models, including a thin (5 m), conductive (0.16 Ωm), hypersaline (147 psu) subglacial lake, are used to evaluate the TEM method for imaging under 800 m-thick ice. The study demonstrates that TEM methods can resolve conductive, saline bodies accurately using external depth constraints, for example, from radar or seismic data. The depth resolution of TEM can be limited beneath deep (>800 m), thick (>50 m) conductive, water bodies and additional constraints from passive electromagnetic (EM) methods could be used to reduce ambiguities in the TEM results. Subsequently, non-invasive active and passive EM methods could provide profound insights into remote aqueous systems under glaciers and ice sheets.

Palaeo-glacial landforms can give insights into bed roughness that currently cannot be captured underneath contemporary-ice streams. A few studies have measured bed roughness of palaeo-ice streams but the bed roughness of specific landform assemblages has not been assessed. If glacial landform assemblages have a characteristic bed-roughness signature, this could potentially be used to constrain where certain landform assemblages exist underneath contemporary-ice sheets. To test this, bed roughness was calculated along 5 m × 5 m resolution transects (NEXTMap DTM, 5 m resolution), which were placed over glacial landform assemblages (e.g. drumlins) in the UK. We find that a combination of total roughness and anisotropy of roughness can be used to define characteristic roughness signatures of glacial landform assemblages. The results show that different window sizes are required to determine the characteristic roughness for a wide range of landform types and to produce bed-roughness signatures of these. Mega scale glacial lineations on average have the lowest bed-roughness values and are the most anisotropic landform assemblage.

An end of summer snowline (EOSS) photographic dataset for Aotearoa New Zealand contains over four decades of equilibrium line altitude (ELA) observations for more than 50 index glaciers. This dataset provides an opportunity to create a climatological ELA reference series that has several applications. Our work screened out EOSS sites that had low temporal coverage and also removed limited observations when the official survey did not take place. Snowline data from 41 of 50 glaciers in the EOSS dataset were retained and included in a normalised master snowline series that spans 1977–2020. Application of the regionally representative normalised master snowline series in monthly and seasonally resolved climate response function analyses showed consistently strong relationships with austral warm-season temperatures for land-based stations west of the Southern Alps and the central Tasman Sea. There is a trend towards higher regional snowlines since the 1990s that has been steepening in recent decades. If contemporary decadal normalised master snowline series trends are maintained, the average Southern Alps snowline elevation will be displaced at least 200 m higher than normal by the 2025–2034 decade. More frequent extremely high snowlines are expected to drive more extreme cumulative mass-balance losses that will reduce the glacierised area of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Since the mid-20th century, ice shelves around the Antarctic Peninsula have declined in extent and thickness, and some have shown signs of structural instability. Here, using satellite imagery from 1999/2000 to 2019/20 (Landsat 7 and 8, Sentinel-2 and ASTER), we measure areal changes, calculate surface flow speeds, and quantify structural changes of Bach, Stange and George VI ice shelves, located in the southwest Antarctic Peninsula. We recorded a total area loss of 797.5 km2 from 2009/10 to 2019/20, though spatial and temporal patterns varied at individual ice fronts. Flow speeds remained largely stable over the observation periods, but notable acceleration was calculated for Bach Ice Shelf, and at the northern and southern extents of George VI Ice Shelf. Open fractures widened and lengthened between 2009/10 and 2019/20 on all three ice shelves. We conclude that Stange Ice Shelf is stable, and not under any immediate threat of enhanced recession. Continued ice-mass loss and consequential speed up of George VI South may cause further fracturing and destabilisation in the coming decades. Of more immediate concern are the glaciological changes noted for Bach Ice Shelf and George VI North; substantial areas of stabilising ice have already, or will soon be removed, that may lead to enhanced recession within the next decade.

The earliest airborne geophysical campaigns over Antarctica and Greenland in the 1960s and 1970s collected ice penetrating radar data on 35 mm optical film. Early subglacial topographic and englacial stratigraphic analyses of these data were foundational to the field of radioglaciology. Recent efforts to digitize and release these data have resulted in geometric and ice-thickness analysis that constrain subsurface change over multiple decades but stop short of radiometric interpretation. The primary challenge for radiometric analysis is the poorly-characterized compression applied to Z-scope records and the sparse sampling of A-scope records. Here, we demonstrate the information richness and radiometric interpretability of Z-scope records. Z-scope pixels have uncalibrated fast-time, slow-time, and intensity scales. We develop approaches for mapping each of these scales to physical units (microseconds, seconds, and signal to noise ratio). We then demonstrate the application of this calibration and analysis approach to a flight in the interior of East Antarctica with subglacial lakes and to a reflight of an East Antarctic ice shelf that was observed by both archival and modern radar. These results demonstrate the potential use of Z-scope signals to extend the baseline of radiometric observations of the subsurface by decades.

Dissolved and particulate sodium, magnesium and calcium are analyzed in ice cores to determine past changes in sea ice extent, terrestrial dust variability and atmospheric aerosol transport efficiency. They are also used to date ice cores if annual layers are visible. Multiple methods have been developed to analyze these important compounds in ice cores. Continuous flow analysis (CFA) is implemented with instruments that sample the meltstream continuously. In this study, CFA with ICP-MS (inductively coupled-plasma mass spectrometry) and fast ion chromatography (FIC) methods are compared for analysis of sodium and magnesium. ICP-MS, FIC and fluorescence methods are compared for analysis of calcium. Respective analysis of a 10 m section of the Antarctic WACSWAIN Skytrain Ice Rise ice core shows that all of the methods result in similar levels of the compounds. The ICP-MS method is the most suitable for analysis of the Skytrain ice core due to its superior precision (relative standard deviation: 1.6% for Na, 1.3% for Mg and 1.2% for Ca) and sampling frequency compared to the FIC method. The fluorescence detection method may be preferred for calcium analysis due to its higher depth resolution (1.4 cm) relative to the ICP-MS and FIC methods (~4 cm).

Supraglacial ponds and ice cliffs can dramatically enhance ablation rates on debris-covered glaciers. Supraglacial ponds can also coalesce, forming moraine-dammed lakes at risk of glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF). Given Bhutanese glaciers have some of the highest ice loss rates in the Himalaya and GLOF vulnerability is high, we seek to advance our understanding of the spatial distribution and evolution of supraglacial ponds and ice cliffs. Here, we use high-resolution (3 m) Planet Labs satellite imagery to provide the first short-term, high-resolution dataset of supraglacial pond and ice cliff evolution for three glaciers along the Bhutan–Tibet border from 2016 to 2018. A total of 5754 ponds and 2088 ice cliffs were identified. Large intra-annual changes were observed, with ponded area changes and drainage events coinciding with the seasonality of the Indian Summer Monsoon. On average, ~19% of the total number of ponds had a coincident ice cliff. Pond spatial distribution was driven by ice-surface velocities, with higher numbers of ponds found in areas of low velocity (<8 m a−1). Our study provides the first detailed, quantitative investigation of supraglacial ponds and ice cliffs in Bhutan, providing a framework for further monitoring in this understudied, yet important, region of the Himalaya.

The vast Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets are covered by many tens of meters of polar firn, which is snow that is years to centuries old and has experienced significant metamorphism. Both ice-sheet modeling and decoding satellite data require knowledge of the thermal conductivity of polar firn with depth, yet direct measurements are not available for depths below the top several meters. We present the first direct measurements of the effective thermal conductivity of polar firn over depths down to 48 m. A custom guarded hot plate has been designed and constructed, and validation of this device using materials of known thermal conductivity is presented. Using the validated device, measurements were made on firn core samples spanning depths from 4 to 48 m from an undisturbed site near the South Pole, Antarctica. Results show that the thermal conductivity of polar firn at South Pole increases with depth and with density. The thermal conductivity of polar firn from the surface to 48 m depth is well-explained as a function of density by the relationship kfirn(ρ) = 0.144 e0.00308·ρ and as a function of depth by the relationship kfirn(z) = 0.536 e0.0144·z. The associated thermal diffusivities range from 19.0 to 28.5 m2 a-1.

Laterally confined marine outlet glaciers exhibit a diverse range of behaviours. This study investigates time-evolving and steady configurations of such glaciers. Using simplified analytic models, it determines conditions for steady states, their stability and expressions for the rate of the calving-front migration for three widely used calving rules. It also investigates the effects of ice mélange when it is present. The results show that ice flux at the terminus is an implicit function of ice thickness that depends on the glacier geometric and dynamic parameters. As a consequence, stability of steady-state configurations is determined by a complex combination of these parameters, specifics of the calving rule and the details of mélange stress conditions. The derived expressions of the rate of terminus migration suggest a non-linear feedback between the migration rate and the calving-front position. A close agreement between the obtained analytic expressions and numerical simulations suggests that these expressions can be used to gain insights into the observed behaviour of the glaciers and also to use observations to improve understanding of calving conditions.

The mechanics underlying ice–skate friction remain uncertain despite over a century of study. In the 1930s, the theory of self-lubrication from frictional heat supplanted an earlier hypothesis that pressure melting governed skate friction. More recently, researchers have suggested that a layer of abraded wear particles or the presence of quasi-liquid molecular layers on the surface of ice could account for its slipperiness. Here, we assess the dominant hypotheses proposed to govern ice–skate friction and describe experiments conducted in an indoor skating rink aimed to provide observations to test these hypotheses. Our results indicate that the brittle failure of ice under rapid compression plays a strong role. Our observations did not confirm the presence of full-contact water films and are more consistent with the presence of lubricating ice-rich slurries at discontinuous high-pressure zones (HPZs). The presence of ice-rich slurries supporting skates through HPZs merges pressure-melting, abrasion and lubricating films as a unified hypothesis for why skates are so slippery across broad ranges of speeds, temperatures and normal loads. We suggest tribometer experiments to overcome the difficulties of investigating these processes during actual skating trials.

Glacier slip is usually described using steady-state sliding laws that relate drag, slip velocity and effective pressure, but where subglacial conditions vary rapidly transient effects may influence slip dynamics. Here we use results from a set of laboratory experiments to examine the transient response of glacier slip over a hard bed to velocity perturbations. The drag and cavity evolution from lab experiments are used to parameterize a rate-and-state drag model that is applied to observations of surface velocity and ice-bed separation from the Greenland ice sheet. The drag model successfully predicts observed lags between changes in ice-bed separation and sliding speed. These lags result from the time (or displacement) required for cavities to evolve from one steady-state condition to another. In comparing drag estimates resulting from applying rate-and-state and steady-state slip laws to transient data, we find the peaks in drag are out of phase. This suggests that in locations where subglacial conditions vary on timescales shorter than those needed for cavity adjustment transient slip processes control basal drag.

Passive microwave satellite observations are used to identify the presence of surface meltwater across Antarctica at daily intervals from July 1979 to June 2020, with a focus on ice shelves. Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves have the highest number of annual days of melt, with a maximum of 89 days. Over the entire time period, there are few significant linear trends in days of melt per year. High melt years can be split into two distinct categories, those with high melt days in Dronning Maud Land and Wilkes Land, and those with high melt days in the Antarctic Peninsula and the Bellingshausen Sea sector of West Antarctica. The first pattern coincides with significant negative correlations between melt days and spring and summer Southern Annular Mode. Both patterns also form the primary modes of spatial and annual variability in the dataset observed by Principal Component Analysis. Areas experiencing extended melt for the first time in years tend to show large decreases in subsequent winter microwave emissions due to structural changes in the firn. We use this to identify the impact of novel melt events, particularly over the austral summers of 1991/92 and 2015/16 on the Ross Ice Shelf.

Based on the measurements conducted over the landfast sea ice in Prydz Bay, East Antarctica during the sea-ice growth season in 2016, various parameterization schemes in the high-resolution thermodynamic snow/ice model HIGHTSI are evaluated. The parameterization scheme of turbulent fluxes produces the largest errors compared with the parameterization schemes for other surface heat fluxes. However, the sea-ice thickness simulation is most sensitive to the differences in upward longwave radiation at the surface. In addition, the sea-ice thickness simulation during the growth season is highly sensitive to the oceanic heat flux, and a new oceanic heat flux parameterization scheme based on the bulk method is proposed. The new parameterization scheme is tested in a second year, and it significantly improves the model performance relative to the standard configuration when compared against observations. Finally, the seasonal variation in the heat budget and its influence on the sea-ice thickness variation are analyzed. The net shortwave radiation, sensible heat flux and conductive heat flux (the net longwave radiation and latent heat flux) are found to be the surface heat sources (heat sinks) during the growth season. The larger conductive heat flux and the smaller oceanic heat flux can intensify the growth of sea ice.

Mountain glaciers have response times that govern retreat due to anthropogenic climate change. We use geometric attributes to estimate individual response times for 383 glaciers in the Cascade mountain range of Washington State, USA. Approximately 90% of estimated response times are between 10 and 60 years, with many large glaciers on the short end of this distribution. A simple model of glacier dynamics shows that this range of response times entails consequential differences in recent and ongoing glacier changes: glaciers with decadal response times have nearly kept pace with anthropogenic warming, but those with multi-decadal response times are far from equilibrium, and their additional committed retreat stands well beyond natural variability. These differences have implications for changes in glacier runoff. A simple calculation highlights that transient peaks in area-integrated melt, either at the onset of forcing or due to variations in forcing, depend on the glacier's response time and degree of disequilibrium. We conclude that differences in individual response times should be considered when assessing the state of a population of glaciers and modeling their future response. These differences in response can arise simply from a range of different glacier geometries, and the same basic principles can be expected in other regions as well.

The Vadret da Tschierva (Vd Tschierva) is a 4 km long glacier in the Swiss Alps spanning an altitude range of 2400–4049 m a.s.l. Length observations since 1855 show steady retreat interrupted by a period of advance from 1965 until 1985. The total retreat is ~2200 m (period 1855–2018). We have studied the Vd Tschierva with a flowline model, combined with ‘buckets’ that represent steep hanging glaciers and ice-free rock faces delivering mass to the main stream. The model is calibrated by a control method, in which an ELA history is objectively determined by finding the best match between observed and simulated glacier length. There is a modest correlation between the reconstructed ELA and an ELA record based on meteorological observations at Segl-Maria (only 8 km away from the glacier). It is difficult to reproduce the observed length record when the glacier model is driven by climate model output (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5). We have calculated the future evolution of the Vd Tschierva for different rates of ELA rise. For a constant rise of 4 ${\rm m\;}{\rm a}^{ \hbox{-} 1}$, we predict that the glacier length will change from the current 3.2 km to ~1.7 km in the year 2100.

In this study, we compare equilibrium-line altitudes (ELAs) calculated using the area–altitude balance ratio (AABR) and the accumulation–area ratio (AAR) methods, with measured ELAs derived from direct field observations. We utilise a GIS toolbox to calculate the ELA for 64 extant glaciers by applying the AABR and AAR methods to DEMs and polygons of their geometry. The calculated ELAs (c-ELAs) are then compared to measured zero-net balance ELAs (znb-ELAs) obtained from mass-balance time series held by the WGMS for the same glaciers. The correlation between znb-ELAs and AABR (1.56)/AAR (0.58) c-ELAs is very strong, with an r2 = 0.99. The smallest median difference between znb-ELAs and c-ELAs (i.e. 65.5 m) is obtained when a globally representative AABR of 1.56 is used. When applied to palaeoglacier-climate applications, this difference translates to ~0.42°C, well within the uncertainty of palaeotemperature proxies used to determine mean summer temperature at the ELA. The more widely used mean AABR of 1.75 is shown to be statistically invalid due to the skewness of the dataset. On this basis, when calculating glacier ELAs, we recommend the use of a global AABR value of 1.56.

Mass loss from ice shelves is a strong control on grounding-line dynamics. Here we investigate how calving and submarine melt parameterizations affect steady-state grounding-line positions and their stability. Our results indicate that different calving laws with the same melt parameterization result in more diverse steady-state ice-sheet configurations than different melt parameterizations with the same calving law. We show that the backstress at the grounding line depends on the integrated ice-shelf mass flux. Consequently, ice shelves are most sensitive to high melt rates in the vicinity of their grounding lines. For the same shelf-averaged melt rates, different melt parameterizations can lead to very different ice-shelf configurations and grounding-line positions. If the melt rate depends on the slope of the ice-shelf draft, then the positive feedback between increased melting and steepening of the slope can lead to singular melt rates at the ice-shelf front, producing an apparent lower limit of the shelf front thickness as the ice thickness vanishes over a small boundary layer. Our results illustrate that the evolution of marine ice sheets is highly dependent on ice-shelf mass loss mechanisms, and that existing parameterizations can lead to a wide range of modelled grounding-line behaviours.

Tiny samples of ancient atmosphere in air bubbles within ice cores contain argon (Ar), which can be used to reconstruct past temperature changes. At a sufficient depth, the air bubbles are compressed by the overburden pressure under low temperature and transform into air-hydrate crystals. While the oxygen (O2) and nitrogen (N2) molecules have indeed been identified in the air-hydrate crystals with Raman spectroscopy, direct observational knowledge of the distribution of Ar at depth within ice sheet and its enclathration has been lacking. In this study, we applied scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) to five air-hydrate crystals in the Greenland NEEM ice core, finding them to contain Ar and N. Given that Ar cannot be detected by Raman spectroscopy, the method commonly used for O2 and N2, the SEM-EDS measurement method may become increasingly useful for measuring inert gases in deep ice cores.