The electrical behaviour of ice which has been finely ground and compressed was investigated during ageing in air and over a range of temperatures. The dielectric behaviour may be accurately represented as the sum of two elliptical relaxation spectra. The behaviour eventually stabilizes with similar activation energies for the mean relaxation time of each spectrum c. 0.25 eV, and the ratio of the relaxation times is ten in samples of density c. 0.42 Mg m-3. Arguments are presented on whether the higher-frequency dispersion is a consequence of the heterogeneous nature of the samples or is a bulk relaxation process. The similarities between the behaviour of such finely ground ice and of deposited snow and polar glacier ice are discussed. The extent to which the results may be attributed to surface adsorption of CO2 are examined by reference to measurements of the CO2 content of finely divided ice and ice from polar regions.

Although over 600 Antarctic subglacial lakes have been identified using radar and satellite observations, the bathymetry and bed properties, which are key to understanding conditions within the lake, have been determined in very few localities. We present measurements of water column thickness and lakebed properties from Lago Subglacial CECs (SLC), located beneath 2653 m of ice at the Rutford-Institute-Minnesota divide in Antarctica. Seismic profiles indicate a maximum water column thickness of 301.3 ± 1.5 m, at the widest part of the lake, with an estimated lake volume of 2.5 ± 0.3 km3. Seismic imaging and measurements of the reflection strength at the ice base and lakebed indicate >15 m of high-porosity fine-grained sediment in the central section of the lakebed, consistent with a depositional sequence with an age of up to 0.5 Ma. These observations, along with previous radar measurements and modelling, indicate a low-energy sedimentary environment with a long water-residence time. As such, SLC is a suitable target for exploration via direct access to recover sediment records of ice sheet and climate history and investigate microbial life with long periods of isolation.

Calculations of the regional variation of net mass balance around Crary Ice Rise, Antarctica, show significant rates of thickening up-stream of the ice rise and significant thinning down-stream (assuming zero basal melting or freezing). Thickening also is occurring on the south-west side of the ice rise nearest the Transantarctic Mountains. These imbalances imply migration of the rise and help explain its current non-equilibrium shape. The pattern of a suture line down-stream of the rise indicates a quasi-periodic mechanism of rift formation.

Patterns of strain rate and slope on the ice streams are unusual. They cannot be accounted for in the usual way as due to standing waves in ice flow over a basal obstruction to flow (such as a sticky spot). The features are studied using the force-budget technique. The conventional flow law is used, together with measurements of surface strain rate and shape of the glacier, to compute basal drag. The results for Ice Stream C are as expected, in that the drag varies from site to site but is directed inland, restraining the flow. The calculated drag at the base of Ice Stream B, on the other hand, is in places such that it acts to propel the glacier forward. This result is untenable. Either the conventional flow law is not applicable to Ice Stream Β or there are large spatial variations in ice stiffness, perhaps associated with foliation, or both.

We present a newly developed high-resolution frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) radar system for sounding the sub-ice topography. The system, working in the frequency range from 200 to 400 MHz, was developed to measure thickness and internal layers in cold ice with a resolution better than 1 m. This system has the potential to measure accumulation rates, an important input for improved knowledge of the mass balance of polar ice sheets. First measurements for the test, calibration and optimization of the new ice sounder were made in December 2005 near the Ellsworth Mountains, specifically in Patriot Hills, West Antarctica, at 80°18′ S, 81°22′ W. The complete radar system was installed on a ski-mounted support frame, and towed by hand across the ice surface. The measurement results show the capability of this system to measure ice thickness up to 1000 m and to define internal layers within the ice body.

The net mass balance (1986/87–1989/90) was calculated for a small cirque glacier in the Italian Alps (Ghiacciaio della Sforzellina, 0.42 k m2, Ortles–Cevedale Group). Four annual mass balances are presented here. All four balances were negative (mean value: –0.90 m year−1), with a maximum deficit of –1.16 m year−1 in 1989–90. The climatic conditions (which are analyzed using data from the S. Caterina Valfurva Station) consisted of a succession of cold, dry winters with little snowfall. Frontal-variation data available since 1925 show a constant retreat until 1966, followed by a brief advance period which has already terminated.

The “T term” in the longitudinal stress-equilibrium equation for glacier mechanics, a double y-integral of ∂2τxy/∂x2 where x is a longitudinal coordinate and y is roughly normal to the ice surface, can be evaluated within the framework of longitudinal flow-coupling theory by linking the local shear stress τxy at any depth to the local shear stress τB at the base, which is determined by the theory. This approach leads to a modified longitudinal flow-coupling equation, in which the modifications deriving from the T term are as follows: 1. The longitudinal coupling length is increased by about 5%. 2. The asymmetry parameter σ is altered by a variable but small amount depending on longitudinal gradients in ice thickness h and surface slope α. 3. There is a significant direct modification of the influence of local h and α on flow, which represents a distinct “driving force” in glacier mechanics, whose origin is in pressure gradients linked to stress gradients of the type ∂τxy/∂x. For longitudinal variations in h, the “T force” varies as d2h/dx2 and results in an in-phase enhancement of the flow response to the variations in h, describable (for sinusoidal variations) by a wavelength-dependent enhancement factor. For longitudinal variations in α, the “force” varies as dα/dx and gives a phase-shifted flow response. Although the “T force” is not negligible, its actual effect on τB and on ice flow proves to be small, because it is attenuated by longitudinal stress coupling. The greatest effect is at shortest wavelengths (λ 2.5h), where the flow response to variations in h does not tend to zero as it would otherwise do because of longitudinal coupling, but instead, because of the effect of the “T force”, tends to a response about 4% of what would occur in the absence of longitudinal coupling. If an effect of this small size can be considered negligible, then the influence of the T term can be disregarded. It is then unnecessary to distinguish in glacier mechanics between two length scales for longitudinal averaging of τb, one over which the T term is negligible and one over which it is not.

Longitudinal flow-coupling theory also provides a basis for evaluating the additional datum-state effects of the T term on the flow perturbations Δu that result from perturbations Δh and Δα from a datum state with longitudinal stress gradients. Although there are many small effects at the ~1% level, none of them seems to stand out significantly, and at the 10% level all can be neglected.

The foregoing conclusions apply for long wavelengths λh. For short wavelengths (λ h), effects of the T term become important in longitudinal coupling, as will be shown in a later paper in this series.

Values of relative permittivity measured by the wide-angle reflection technique on the Ross ice Shelf show substantial variations between sites, from 3.09 to 2.89, with estimated errors of ±0.03. The largest values, closest to those normally measured in the laboratory, are found nearest to the grounded ice sheet; values decrease generally in the direction of thinner ice that has been longer on the ice shelf. We believe the variation reflects some real physical phenomenon in the ice shelf, either a true variation in the permittivity of the ice or a complication of the ray-path geometry, but are not able to offer a satisfactory model at present. We hope an explanation will be forthcoming when actual ice core samples from the deep shelf ice are available for examination.

Short-term variations in ice-flow velocity were obtained at intervals of a few hours and a few days in the ablation area of Glaciar Soler, Patagonia, Chile, in November 1985. A maximum flow rate was measured at about four times the minimum value. A good correlation, with a time lag of 7.5 h, was found between the ice-flow velocity in the lower reaches and the amount of water discharge from the glacier terminus. It was concluded, therefore, that the velocity variations should have resulted from the variations in basal sliding velocity which is strongly controlled by the subglacial water pressure.

Slushflows were first recorded in the Iberian Peninsula on 18 December 1997. Three slushflows were released at the ski resort of El Port del Comte, in the Catalan Pyrenees, northeast Spain, during intense rainfall. Two of the slushflows originated on the pistes, and the third affected another piste. Three ski lifts were damaged. This paper analyzes the hydrogeological characteristics of the massif, the geomorphic features of the terrain and the meteorological and snowpack conditions that caused the release of the slushflows. Man's role in triggering the slushflows by compacting snow on the pistes is also considered. Drainage control for reducing the hazard is outlined, taking into consideration the low frequency of the phenomenon.

The first four strings of phototubes for the AMANDA high-energy neutrino observatory are now frozen in place at a depth of 800-1000 m in ice at the South Pole, During the 1995-96 season, as many as six more strings will be deployed at greater depths. Provided absorption, scattering and refraction of visible light are sufficiently small, the trajectory of a muon into which a neutrino converts can be determined by using the array of phototubes to measure the arrival times of Cherenkov light emitted by the muon. To help in deciding on the depth for implantation of the six new strings, we discuss models of age vs depth for South Pole ice, we estimate mean free paths for scattering from bubbles and dust as a function of depth and we assess distortion of light paths due to refraction at crystal boundaries and interfaces between air-hydrate inclusions and normal ice. We conclude that the interval 1600-2100 m will be suitably transparent for a future 1 km3 observatory except possibly in a region a few tens of meters thick at a depth corresponding to a peak in the dust concentration at 60 k year BP.

Inaccurate representations of iceberg calving from ice shelves are a large source of uncertainty in mass-loss projections from the Antarctic ice sheet. Here, we address this limitation by implementing and testing a continuum damage-mechanics model in a continental scale ice-sheet model. The damage-mechanics formulation, based on a linear stability analysis and subsequent long-wavelength approximation of crevasses that evolve in a viscous medium, links damage evolution to climate forcing and the large-scale stresses within an ice shelf. We incorporate this model into the BISICLES ice-sheet model and test it by applying it to idealized (1) ice tongues, for which we present analytical solutions and (2) buttressed ice-shelf geometries. Our simulations show that the model reproduces the large disparity in lengths of ice shelves with geometries and melt rates broadly similar to those of four Antarctic ice shelves: Erebus Glacier Tongue (length ~ 13 km), the unembayed portion of Drygalski Ice Tongue (~ 65 km), the Amery Ice Shelf (~ 350 km) and the Ross Ice Shelf (~ 500 km). These results demonstrate that our simple continuum model holds promise for constraining realistic ice-shelf extents in large-scale ice-sheet models in a computationally tractable manner.

Surface-elevation change and ice velocities have been measured over the debris-covered tongue of Chacraraju, Peru. Elevation change was measured by reflectorless survey at a 1 m horizontal resolution over three separate areas of the glacier between 2004 and 2005. Area-averaged change revealed general lowering, with two of the surveyed areas experiencing surface lowering of 0.58 and 0.77 m, and the third a rise of 0.07 m. Combining all three areas (43 216 m2) resulted in a mean net lowering of 0.43 m a−1, which is at the higher end of the range of long-term studies in the region. Velocity was measured over 7 days by the repeated optical survey of 12 prisms attached to stakes inserted directly into the glacier’s surface. Results indicate that velocity increases approximately with distance squared from the glacier’s terminus, from <10 mm d−1 near the terminus to approaching 100 mm d−1 at the base of the glacier’s icefall, located ∼1.7 km up-glacier. Velocity vectors also changed systematically along the glacier, from a consistent down-glacier orientation near the icefall to more variable orientations within ∼300 m of the terminus. No up-glacier motion component was measured.

Nanospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry was developed as a tool for examining the dissolved organic matter (DOM) present in ice cores, significantly reducing the sample volume required for extraction compared with previous studies. Using smaller sample volumes is important for resolving temporal changes in ice-core DOM. We demonstrate that a small volume of ice-core meltwater can be extracted and analyzed with sufficient mass spectral sensitivity to describe the molecular composition of the DOM. Two different solid-phase extraction resins (PPL and C18) were compared to examine potential fractionation of the DOM. Over 2500 unique molecular formulas isolated from two different Greenland ice-core samples, dated to approximately AD 1660 and AD 1360, were obtained from the analyses. Method and sensitivity improvements provide an opportunity for organic matter characterization at higher temporal resolution than our previous analyses afforded and allows for examination of ice cores containing low levels of organic carbon.

Hobson’s Choice Ice Island is a tabular iceberg that calved in 1982-83 from East Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, N.W.T., Canada. Four ice cores have been analyzed for ice-crystal size, structure and fabric, bulk density, liquid electrical conductivity, δ18O and tritium. This has enabled a complete characterization of the physical properties and the structural characteristics of the ice-shelf component of Hobson’s Choice Ice Island and the first ever study of the stratigraphy and growth history of East Ward Hunt Ice Shelf. The δ18O values range from -34.6 to and indicate that all the ice is derived directly and/or indirectly from precipitation. High tritium values occur only in the lowermost 5 m of the ice shelf in a layer named stratum B. The tritium is anthropogenic and indicates bottom accretion of fresh-water ice since 1952, most likely from fresh water flowing out of Disraeli Fiord below the eastern ice shelf. Above this deepest and youngest ice layer is a 35-38 m thick, unconformable layer (stratum A) comprising three ice types: iced-firn, slush ice and lake ice. This depositional-superimposed ice represents past surface accumulation, which, according to δ18O and ice-crystal structure and size variations, occurred in three major periods, each interrupted by major ablation periods. Fresh water flowing out of Disraeli Fiord below the ice shelf during those warm intervals was the most likely agent responsible for the ablation and eventual complete loss of the original sea-ice platform on which stratum A initially accumulated. The three sub-strata of stratum A vary in thickness from core to core and suggest that there has been an inversion of relief during each ablation period. The different properties and occurrences of the three superimposed ice types are due primarily to past topographic variability.

The microwave emission from a half-space medium characterized by coordinate dependent scattering and absorbing centers has been calculated by numerically solving the radiative transfer equation by the method of invariant imbedding. A Mie scattering phase function and surface polarization have been included in the calculation. Also included are the physical temperature profile and the temperature variation of the index of refraction for ice. Using published values of grain-size and temperature-profile data of polar firn, the brightness temperature has been calculated for the 1.55 cm and 0.8 cm wavelengths. For selected regions in Greenland and Antarctica, the results of our calculations are in reasonable agreement with the observed Nimbus-5 and Nimbus-6 ESMR data.

The following items of equipment and glaciological techniques used on the Barnes ice cap are described:

1. Thermo-electric boring in cold ice.

2. Mechanical drilling in (a) cold rock, (b) cold ice.

3. Measurement of temperature in ice and rock.

4. Snow kit and measurement of ice density.

5. Crystal rubbings on cold ice.