A model of dislocation glide in ice Ih was recently proposed. This model was developed on certain assumptions, namely that transitions occur through cooperative movements of H2O molecules in the non-crystalline core of dislocations. A relation between the velocity vd of linear defects and shear stress τ or temperature T is obtained. This relation shows that vd varies linearly with τ at low values of τ and (or) T but varies more rapidly at higher stresses; this non-linearity is more pronounced the higher the temperature. Such an analysis is extended in order to take into account doping effects. The case of HF-doped ice is considered: it is shown that there is a strong accumulation effect of HF molecules in the dislocation cores, which induces an increase of the rate of transitions. The results are in agreement with experimental data concerning both the velocity of dislocations and high-temperature internal friction in HF-doped ice.

The inverse problem of radio-echo sounding consists in the reconstruction of subglacial relief from the known radio-echo profile, and the path, and speed of the aircraft. The present work shows that in the geometrical optical approach the solution of the inverse problem for a homogeneous, two-dimensional object (valley glacier) exists, and there is a unique solution. An algorithm for interpretation of the experimental data is suggested. It may be considered as the generalization of Harrison’s transformations for any surfaces. paths, and speed.

The direct problem of radio-echo sounding consists in the reconstruction of radio-echo profile from the known surface and subsurface relief, path, and aircraft speed. The analysis of traces in the standard radio-echo sounding mode of operation reveals the possibility of introducing a three-index trace classification {K, sign S’(o), K+} where K is the number of real roots characteristic of the equations, K+ the number of positive roots, and S’(o) the position derivative, the argument being equal to zero. The form {o, — o} is optimal for the precision of the calculation of the reflected surface coordinates, as well as for the simplicity of the interpreted picture. By a special choice of the altitude of flight, any form of any surface can be brought to {o, —o}. The decrease in beam width is equivalent to the diminution of roots of the characteristic equations. For a pencil beam the trace degenerates into a point.

The attenuation of the reflected signal depends on the glacier geometry, the dielectric parameters of the medium, the altitude and the course of the aircraft, as well as statistical characteristics of the mutual orientation of the interfaces and aerials. For the description of the energetics of radio-echo sounding, equivalent reflecting surfaces are suggested. These surfaces correspond to the Harrison’s equivalent reflecting surface. Exact formulae for the power of coherent and incoherent components of the reflected signal are obtained. Components of the full attenuation such as absorption, depolarization, and spherical divergence, are investigated with respect to refraction and focusing effects.

Observations in the glaciological pit of Little America III (1939–41), carried out in March 1957 and in January 1958, are discussed. Of particular interest is the analysis of the settling of firn over a period of 17.6 years. The observed data, including those of Wade taken in 1940 and of Howard in 1947, were fitted best by a logarithmic expression, which proved useful as an interpolation formula. From the computed values of the rate of settling, and the observed density-depth relation, the average accumulation is calculated, using Sorge’s law. For the undisturbed period 1947–58 an average annual accumulation of 19 g./cm.2 is found for Little America III (position in 1958 about lat. 78° 26′ S., long. 163° 52′ W.).

A Tertiary tillite occurs at an altitude of 2750 m on Mount Feather in southern Victoria Land. The tillite mantles a remnant of the floor of a south-east-trending glacial valley that pre-dates the cutting of the existing glacial drainage system in southern Victoria Land. Petrographic evidence suggests that ice which deposited the tillite drained a relatively distant source area.

The volume of ice that flows annually from the Skelton Glacier on the west side of the Ross Ice Shelf between the Worcester and Royal Society Ranges was determined during 1958–59 traverse operations to be approximately 791 × 106 m.3 or 712 × 106 m.3 water equivalent. Annual accumulation on the Skelton névé field and small cirque glaciers is estimated to be 1,018 × 106 m.3 water equivalent, but this figure can be reduced to 712 × 106 m.3 by assuming that 30 per cent of the expected accumulation in the lower slopes of the glacier is lost to adjacent areas of the Ross Ice Shelf by katabatic winds. It is evident that little or no contribution to the nourishment of the Skelton Glacier comes from the high plateau area of East Antarctica. It is suggested that this condition exists generally in the western Ross Sea and Ross Shelf area, and is responsible for the existence of the present “dry” valleys in the McMurdo Sound area.

Some estimates of local ice regime are made at two sites on the glacier where ice thickness and strain rates are known.

A procedure is described for testing ice in tension. It incorporates a one-piece lucite mold, two carpeted “Synthane” end-caps and a pair of yokes anti ball joints. Use of the procedure has resulted in a successful test rate greater than 80%.

Gravity measurements have been used to determine ice thicknesses across the western part of the Devon Island ice cap in the Canadian Arctic. A detailed profile of the ice-cap edge and a profile across an adjoining glacier are also given. The ice cap has been found to have a largely rock core with ice thicknesses generally less than 500 m. A deep valley has been found in the bedrock beneath the ice cap some 15 km. from the start of a draining glacier. The measured depths on the ice cap should be within 15 per cent and those on the glacier within 20 per cent of the true values.

We have developed a new technique for making thin sections and surface replicas of ice at temperatures well below 273 K. Cyanoacrylate glue forms a strong bond with ice and glass at 245 K, eliminating the need to fix the sample to the thin-section slide by melting and freezing. Surface replicas are made by melting away sample material once the glue has cured. Glue replicas are permanent and highly detailed, making them suitable for microstructural and textural studies at room temperature. Thin sections glued with cyanoacrylate glue are comparable in quality to melted-on sections. The ability to make thin sections without melting sample material is important in textural and microstructural studies of ice deformed at low temperatures because of annealing effects we have observed during conventional section making.

MacClintock (1953) has suggested that arcuate features formed on glass by the impression of steel ball bearings may be analogous to crescentic gouges observed on formerly glaciated rock surfaces. He noted that cracks, convex in the direction of movement, are formed as bearings roll over a glass surface but not as they slide over it. MacClintock therefore proposed that the similarly orientated crescentic gouges may owe their origin to abrading clasts rolling along a glacier bed. This note describes simple experiments designed to test this view by generating friction cracks artificially. Cracks convex and concave in the direction of movement were produced by a non-rolling bearing — a result apparently incompatible with MacClintock’s proposal. It is suggested that the orientation of such cracks is less dependent on bearing rotation and more the result of pressure variation. Cracks analogous to crescentic gouges may form as a result of unloading.

Airborne 60 MHz radio echo-sounding data were collected over 250 km of flight track from an ice cap (Kvitøyjøkulen) on Kvitøya in north-eastern Svalbard. These were combined with Landsat imagery to provide ice-surface and bed topographic information and inferences about the thermal and climatic conditions on the ice cap. Quantitative analysis of radio-echo strength measurements and the existence of offshore plumes of sediment-laden melt water indicate significant basal melting and a warmer thermal regime than would be expected from the geographical location of the ice cap. Analysis of the dielectric absorption of radio waves by the ice and data from a recently recovered ice core from a neighbouring ice cap (Austfonna) suggest considerable anthropogenic contamination of the precipitation falling on Kvitøya, most probably originating from Eurasia.

The growth of two-dimensional, or laterally confined (flume), aufeis is shown from laboratory data to depend primarily on seven, independent, dimensionless parameters. During the early, two-dimensional, phase of its growth, aufeis consists of a mixture of ice and water, or ice-water slush, forming on a frigid base. Its early growth depends on four parameters: those expressing position along aufeis, period of spreading, slope of frigid base over which aufeis forms, and magnitude of heat flux to air from the surface of aufeis relative to latent heat release during freezing. The influences of two of the three remaining parameters, those expressing magnitude of heat flux to air relative to heat flux to frigid base and confined width of aufeis growth, are not felt until after a transition time has passed. The transition time apparently coincides with the beginning of the processes by which the ice-water slush on the surface of aufeis freezes solid. After a slush layer on aufeis begins to freeze solid, a new slush layer forms over its frozen surface. The continuing, cyclic process by which slush layers form and eventually freeze results in the ice laminations that are a feature of aufeis. The influence of the seventh governing parameter, a Reynolds number, cannot be discerned in the laboratory data.

In this study, we investigate the differences between two transient, three-dimensional, thermomechanically coupled ice-sheet models, namely, a first-order approximation model (FOM) and a ‘full’ Stokes ice-sheet model (FSM) under the same numerical framework. For all numerical experiments, we take the FSM outputs as the reference values and calculate the mean relative errors in the velocity and temperature fields for the FOM over 100 years. Four different boundary conditions (ice slope, geothermal heat flux, basal topography and basal sliding) are tested, and by changing these parameters, we verify the thermomechanical behavior of the FOM and discover that the velocity and temperature biases of the FOM generally increase with increases in the ice slope, geothermal heat flux, undulation amplitude of the ice base, and with the existence of basal sliding. In addition, the model difference between the FOM and FSM may accumulate over time, and the spatial distribution patterns of the relative velocity and temperature errors are in good agreement.

Glacial quarrying stems from the fracturing of subglacial bedrock. Much evidence shows that subcritical crack propagation of bedrock is closely related to subglacial water pressure fluctuations. Here we employ a model that assesses the impact of subglacial water pressure fluctuation on cavity length and subcritical crack propagation, while analyzing the effect of a pre-existing crack location using a phase-field model (PFM). Our results indicate that the cavity length is reduced during diurnal fluctuations in water pressure. There are two patterns of subcritical crack propagation on the corner of the step. The first stems from a rapid drop in water pressure. The second occurs after the water pressure recovers from the fluctuation to the initial steady state. This pattern is a consequence of enhanced stress concentration on the step since the modeled cavity length exceeds its steady value and has higher efficiency in promoting subcritical crack propagation. Additionally, based on the PFM results, we speculate that the subcritical crack initiation and propagation happen on a broader scale, including the ice-bed contact region and its adjacent region. Our findings imply that the duration of subcritical crack propagation is short and typically ceases once the cavity length adjusts to reduced water pressure levels.

Large-angle tilt grain boundaries in artificially-grown ice bicrystals were observed by the method of X-ray diffraction topography. In bicrystals for which misorientation angles satisfy the conditions of a high-density coincidence site lattice (CSL) at the boundary, the images of fine parallel line defects appear on the topograph taken immediately after a light deformation. Since these images disappear in a time period between several hours and a few days and reappear again at the same sites when the specimen is deformed subsequently, it is concluded that these line defects are not stable like the boundary dislocations but may be steps generated on the boundary to form facets which coincide with the high-density CSL plane. X-ray topographic images of boundaries which do not satisfy the conditions of a high density CSL are complex and difficult to interpret, although some of the images indicate that there may be different types of structures on such boundaries.

The author describes the work of Dr. V. Vareschi on the pollen content of glacier ice. A general account of the method of analysis is given. The results of statistical evidence of the analyses on several alpine glaciers are discussed, particularly in regard to the general nature of glacier flow in different parts of the glaciers. Vareschi’s suggestions as to the modes of origin of a certain type of ogive banding and of parallel banding (Pflugfurcheneis) are dealt with in the light of his findings. It is pointed out that what appears to be a valuable new approach to the solution of glacier flow problems needs elaboration before it can be accepted in all its bearings.

The relations between geodetic measurements of the surface level variations Δh and net budget measurements by stakes arc discussed. In 1961, 24 yr. after Finsterwalder’s survey, Tunsbergdalsbreen, the largest and most regular of the 26 outlet glaciers of Jostedalsbreen, was re-surveyed. The variations in the length, area, ice thickness, and volume of its tongue are shown. The lake Brimkjelen was 99 m. deep in 1937; it disappeared in 1949. From 1900–40 the whole Jostedalsbre lost 0.4 m./yr., about the same amount as the glaciers of the eastern Alps. The ice thickness of the Tunsbergdalsbre tongue diminished by −ΔhA = 0.46+0.0022 (1500−A) m./yr. from 1937–61; for the eastern Alps from 1920–50 −ΔhA ≈ 0.53+0.0021 (2850−A) m./yr. where A is the altitude. The change of Δh with altitude is much the same. The amounts of the retreat of the Alpine glaciers, of Tunsbergdalshreen, and at Werenskioldbreen, Vestspitsbergen, were the greater the higher the latitude. The numerical relations between Δh, net budget, and ice movement are shown. The temporary velocity transverse profile of 1937 served as a prototype for the streaming mode of flow, but in 1961 the glacier partially showed Blockschollen movement, although the velocity had decreased by more than 30 per cent. The article is accompanied by a map showing ice surface contours in 1937 and 1961.