bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Geocryological Zones Of Antarctica (Abstract only)
Authors: Vtyurin B.I.
Published: February 2017

Criteria for the determination of geocryological zones are: (1) distribution of permafrost, (2) the mean annual temperature of permafrost, (3) thickness of the active layer, (4) types of ground ice and ice content of permafrost, (5) regularities of cryogenic structure, (6) cryogenic phenomena, and (7) types of cryogenic relief.

Interpretation of the available data allows us to delineate the following geocryological zones in the Antarctic: (1) sub-Antarctic islands, (2) coastalcontinental, and (3) intercontinental. The brief general geocryological characteristic of these zones is given in the paper.

The sub-Antarctic island zone features discontinuous and continuous permafrost. The mean annual temperature of the permafrost is near 0°C and the maximum thickness is several tens of metres. The seasonal thawed zone has a thickness of 0.4 to 1.2 m. There are visible ice inclusions and very small ice forms in the permafrost and seasonal frost. Frost action causes frost sorting, hill - slope forms, and thermokarst. Ice-wedges are not found in the sub-Antarctic zone.

The coastal-continental zone has continuous permafrost. The mean annual temperature of the permafrost therejs -1°C in the Antarctic Peninsula and up to -5 to -7°C in East Antarctica. Maximum thickness of the permafrost is over 100 m and the active layer is 0.3 to 1 m. The ground ice is mainly pore ice but in some places there is buried glacier ice in moraine. Frost action, frost sorting, creep, nivation, and pre-glacial slope forms are developed in the coastalcontinental zone.

The intercontinental zone consists of continuous permafrost only. The mean annual temperature of the permafrost there is -10°C or lower. Thickness of this permafrost is several hundreds of metres and of the active layer is 0.1 to 0.5 m. The ice content is low with only small ice forms. The cryogenic structure of the permafrost is the same as the coastal-continental zone. Because alternate freezing and thawing is infrequent in the intercontinental zone all cryogenic processes are less rapid than in the other zones. Thermokarst is not found there and 1n general the intercontinental zone is not as well studied as the two other zones.
Mechanical Tests of Fresh Ice Core (Abstract only)
Authors: Shoji H. , Langway C.C.
Published: February 2017

Uniaxial compression tests (UCT) under constant cross-head speed and simple shear tests (SST) under constant load have been carried out in a snow cave at -16°C on ice cores within at most one month of extraction from depths of 235, 504, 708, and 896 m at Dye-3, Greenland, as part of the Greenland Ice Sheet Program (GISP), in order to improve understanding of flow behavior. UCT specimens had their stress axis at 45° from the core axis and SST specimens had their shear parallel to the horizontal plane of the core, so that in both cases maximum resolved shear stress was in the horizontal plane of the ice sheet.

Fracture stresses in UCT had characteristic values for each depth corresponding to core quality. When effective strain-rate was plotted against effective shear stress on a double logarithmic plot, (1) data from the same depth fell on the same straight line for both tests, (2) for a given stress, strainrate varied with core-depth by less than half an order of magnitude, and (3) the stress exponent lay between 2 and 2.5, significantly less than the 3 to 4 reported for polycrystalline ice.

Values extrapolated from the present data agree quite well with those deduced from bore-hole tilting measurements at Byrd station, Antarctica, and Camp Century, Greenland.
Mechanical Properties of Dye 3 Greenland Deep Ice Cores
Authors: Azuma Nobuhiko , Higashi Akira
Published: February 2017

Uniaxial compression tests were carried out with specimens cut from several deep ice cores obtained at Dye 3, Greenland, in 1980 and 1981. The power law relationship of= Ασηwas obtained between the uniaxial strain-rateand the uniaxial stress σ. In a range of strain-rates between 10−8and 10−7s−1, the value of the power n for samples with strong single maximum fabric was approximately 4, significantly larger than the value of 3 which has been generally accepted from experiments using artificial polycrystalline ice. A work-hardening effect was found in the ice-core samples taken from a depth of 1900 m, which had a smaller grain size than the others. Recrystallization occurred when the temperature of the specimen was raised during the test and this ultimately caused the formation of the so-called diamond pattern ice fabric.
A Three-Dimensional Time-Dependent Model of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet
Authors: Budd W. F. , Jenssen D. , Smith I. N.
Published: February 2017

The area of West Antarctica which drains into the Ross Ice Shelf is examined for the purpose of understanding its dynamics and developing a numerical model to study its reaction to environmental changes. A high resolution 20 km grid is used to compile a database for surface and bedrock elevation, accumulation, and surface temperatures. Balance velocities Vbare computed and found to approximate observed velocities. These balance velocities are used with basal shear stress and ice thickness above buoyancy Z*to derive parameters k2, p and q for a sliddinq relation of the form

Reasonable matching is obtained for p = 1, q = 2 and k2= 5 × 106m3bar−1a−1. This sliding relation is then used in a first complete dynamic and thermodynamic velocity calculation for West Antarctica and for an improved simulation of the whole Antarctic ice sheet.
Cryospheric Impacts of Soviet River Diversion Schemes
Authors: Holt T. , Kelly P. M. , Cherry B. S. G.
Published: February 2017

Soviet plans to divert water from rivers flowing into the Arctic Ocean have led to research into the impact of a reduction in discharge on Arctic sea ice. We consider the mechanisms by which discharge reductions might affect sea-ice cover and then test various hypotheses related to these mechanisms. We find several large areas over which sea-ice concentration correlates significantly with variations in river discharge, supporting two particular hypotheses. The first hypothesis concerns the area where the initial impacts are likely to which is the Kara Sea. Reduced riverflow is associated occur, with decreased sea-ice concentration in October, at the time of ice formation. This is believed to be the result of decreased freshening of the surface layer. The second hypothesis concerns possible effects on the large-scale current system of the Arctic Ocean and, in particular, on the inflow of Atlantic and Pacific water. These effects occur as a result of changes in the strength of northward-flowing gradient currents associated with variations in river discharge. Although it is still not certain that substantial transfers of riverflow will take place, it is concluded that the possibility of significant cryospheric effects and, hence, large-scale climate impact should not be neglected.
Lake Sediments as Continental δ18O Records from the Glacial/Post-Glacial Transition
Authors: Siegenthaler U. , Eicher U. , Oeschger H. , Dansgaard W.
Published: February 2017

As in polar ice, 18O variations of precipitation are recorded in carbonate sediments formed in lakes (lake marl). We have analyzed many late-glacial profiles from Europe, There are strong l8O variations which coincide with well-known pollen zone boundaries and which indicate that abrupt, drastic climatic changes occurred in the late glacial period. These events are a major warming around 13 ka BP (pollen zone boundary Oldest Dryas/Bölling) and a marked cold phase between about 10.8 and 10 ka BP (Younger Dryas). Comparison of the δ18O records of European lake sediments and of Greenland ice cores reveal a striking similarity which indicates that climatic changes in the late glacial and early postglacial were parallel in Greenland and in Europe. First results from North American lake-sediment profiles do not exhibit similar δ18O variations. This pattern of climatic changes was probably caused by retreating and readvancing polar water in the high-latitude North Atlantic Ocean, as discussed by Ruddiman and McIntyre (1981).
Tides, Tidally Driven Barotropic Circulation and the Formation of Tidal Fronts Below the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica (Abstract)
Authors: MacAyeal Douglas R.
Published: February 2017

Ocean circulation and heat transport below the Ross Ice Shelf are difficult to observe because of the thick ice cover. Numerical modeling thus provides a practical method for testing ideas about sub-ice-shelf circulation and basal melting. In this study, tidal rectification (Zimmerman 1981), tidal front formation (Fearnhead 1975), and their impact on the sub-ice-shelf environment are determined from a numerical tidal model.
A Time-Dependent Simulation of the Ross Ice Shelf Flow (Abstract)
Authors: MacAyeal Douglas R. , Thomas Robert H.
Published: February 2017

The finite-element model discussed by MacAyeal and Thomas (1982) has been improved to include solution of the heat equation within each element, and to accelerate convergence to solution of the momentum-balance equations in terms of ice-shelf spreading rates. The model is now sufficiently rapid to permit both snapshot and time-marching simulations of a large ice shelf at high spatial and temporal resolution (grid size 10 km; time step 0.1 a). Here, we describe three model simulations of Ross Ice Shelf behavior.
Atmospheric Trace-Gas Variations as Revealed by Air Trapped in an Ice Core from Law Dome, Antarctica
Authors: Etheridge D.M. , Pearman G.I. , de Silva F.
Published: February 2017

A technique for extracting and analysing large air samples from bubbles occluded in an Antarctic ice core is discussed. Core samples of up to 1400 g were milled to release approximately 120 cm3 of air, which was dried, collected in a cold finger and then analysed by gas chromatography. The concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) over the past 450 years have thus been revealed. Measurements of a chlorofluorocarbon (CCl2F2) in the ice-core air were used to check core quality and the air-occlusion process.

The ice core, designated BHD, was thermally drilled from the summit of Law Dome, Antarctica, where the average accumulation rate is 0.65 m a-1 water equivalent and the annual average temperature is –22°C. Ice dating was achieved by counting annual cycles of oxygen-isotope ratio and d.c. conductivity, and air dating was deduced from the density profile.

The results show the pre-industrial concentrations of the gases to be 288 ± 5 ppm volume for CO2, 800 ± 50 ppb volume for CH4 and 285 ± 10 ppb volume for N20.
Investigation of the 18O Content of a 100 m Ice Core From the Ronne Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Authors: Graf W. , Reinwarth O. , Moser H. , Stichler W.
Published: February 2017

A 100 m ice core from the Ronne Ice Shelf, drilled during the 1983-84 field season, was dated by isotopic stratigraphy, using the well-known seasonal variation in the 18O content in firn and ice; the layers at a depth of 89 m are probably 400 years old. Layer thicknesses deduced from the 18O profile indicate short-term variations of the snow-accumulation rate over the last 400 years. The area of deposition of the material recovered with the core is estimated by a two-dimensional flow model and by the 18O content of the core, which decreases from –27.5‰ in the upper part of the core to –32.0‰ at 89 m depth.
The Signal from the Chernobyl Accident in High-Altitude Firn Areas of the Swiss Alps
Authors: Haeberli W. , Gäggeler H. , Baltensperger U. , Jost D. , Schotterer U.
Published: February 2017

In order to investigate the deposition of radioactive fission nuclides in the high-altitude snow and firn of the Swiss Alps after the Chernobyl accident, core samples from nine mountain peaks were analyzed. The observed radiological signal is described, together with the characteristics of the snow in which it is embedded. Total activity is of the same order of magnitude (around 10 kBq/m2) as deposition rates measured at lower altitudes, and shows a comparable regional distribution. A clear altitudinal trend only exists with respect to snow conditions: above about 4000 m a.s.l., erosion, mixing and resedimentation of cold snow by wind could have occurred during or shortly after the deposition, whereas at lower altitudes formation and percolation of melt water had already started — probably selectively — to redistribute the nuclides within temperate firn layers.
Salinity and Isotope Analysis of Some Multi-Year Landfast Sea-Ice Cores, Northern Ellesmere Island, Canada
Authors: Jeffries Martin O. , Krouse H. Roy
Published: February 2017

The salinity and isotope (18O, 3H) content of multi-year landfast sea-ice (MLSI) cores from northern Ellesmere Island, Canada, are examined. Salinity ranges from 0.01‰ to 4.54‰, and δ18O ranges from −23.8‰ to +0.7‰. Salinity and δ18O are linearly related, and tritium values generally exceed natural background levels. The results are evidence of ice growth associated with fresh-water / sea-water stratification below the ice. Salinity variations are cyclic and indicate a mean annual bottom accretion rate of 0.33–0.5 m a−1. Rather than signifying downward percolation of melt water from the surface, the ice δ values are a proxy measure of variations in salinity and 18O content of the water below the ice. Annual salinity layers are preserved in the absence of significant brine movement and ice deformation. The fast-ice environment appears to favour the maintenance of water stratification and growth of annual layers. It is suggested that ice growth in this environment is somewhat independent of thermodynamic sea-ice growth models; instead, ice growth by a double-diffusion process might account for the growth of MLSI beyond thicknesses normally encountered in undeformed multi-year pack-ice floes.
Water Circulation and Ice Accretion Beneath Ward Hunt Ice Shelf (Northern Ellesmere Island, Canada), Deduced From Salinity and Isotope Analysis of Ice Cores
Authors: Jeffries Martin O. , Sackinger William M. , Krouse H. Roy , Serson Harold V.
Published: February 2017

Ice-core drilling and ice-core analysis (electrical conductivity–salinity, 18O, 3H, density) reveal that the internal structure of the west Ward Hunt Ice Shelf contrasts sharply with that of the east ice shelf. The west ice shelf contains a great thickness (≥22 m) of sea ice (mean salinity, 2.22‰; mean δ18O, -0.8‰), whereas the east ice shelf is entirely of meteoric or fresh-water ice (mean salinity 0.01‰; mean δ18O, -29.7‰). High tritium activities are found only in ice from near the bottom of the east and west ice shelves. The contrasting ice-core data is considered to be a proxy record of variations in water circulation and bottom freezing beneath the ice shelf. The west shelf is underlain by sea water flowing into Disraeli Fiord. Sea ice accretes on to the bottom of the west ice shelf from the sea-water flowing into the fiord. Sea-water flowing out of the fiord is directed below the east ice shelf. However, the east ice shelf is not underlain directly by sea-water but by a layer of fresh water from the surface of Disraeli Fiord. In this region, ice growth resulting from the presence of this stable fresh-water layer has been accompanied by surface ablation over a period of perhaps the last 450 years. As a result, fresh-water ice has completely replaced any sea ice that originally grew in the region of the east ice shelf. Whereas the west and east shelves are underlain almost exclusively by sea-water and fresh water, ice in the south shelf is the result of freezing of fresh, brackish or sea water. This is attributed to mixing of the inflowing and outflowing waters.
Pollen Analysis and Discussion of Time-Scales in Canadian Ice Cores
Authors: Koerner R.M. , Bourgeois J.C. , Fisher D.A.
Published: February 2017

Previous pollen analyses of ice cores from Devon and Ellesmere islands have contributed considerably to our knowledge of past climate in the Canadian High Arctic. In this case, in 1979, bulk (35–83 litres) water samples were melted down a hole 139 m deep, drilled to bedrock, 1.2 km from the top of the flow line in Agassiz Ice Cap in northern Ellesmere Island. Analysis of ten of these samples, plus some taken in very dirty ice from the melt tank during drilling 7 years ago, has yielded pollen concentrations that, together with the oygen-isotope (6) signatures, suggest the Agassiz Ice Cap began its growth during the last interglacial period. A discrepancy between melt-tank and bulk-sample pollen concentrations is believed to be due to a loss of pollen from the melt-tank samples during the drilling process.
Stable-Isotope Ratios and Concentration of CO2 in Air from Polar Ice Cores
Authors: Siegenthaler U. , Friedli H. , Loetscher H. , Moor E. , Neftel A. , Oeschger H. , Stauffer B.
Published: February 2017

Analyses of air trapped in an ice core from the South Pole indicate that the CO2 concentration may have increased by about 10 ppm and that the 13C/12C ratio decreased slightly in the thirteenth century. These changes, if really of atmospheric origin, must be due to a significant input into the atmosphere of CO2, either of biogenic or of oceanic origin.

18O/16O ratios in CO2 from different ice cores are much lower than those which have been observed in atmospheric carbon dioxide. A possible explanation is that the CO2 has equilibrated isotopically with the ice. We have calculated equilibrium isotope-fractionation factors between ice and carbon dioxide and found that the observed 18O/16O ratios of CO2 are indeed near isotopic equilibrium with the ice. This indicates that an exchange of oxygen atoms probably occurs between ice and included CO2.
The Anthropogenic Impact on Snow Chemistry at Colle Gnifetti, Swiss Alps
Authors: Wagenbach D. , Münnich K.O. , Schotterer U. , Oeschger H.
Published: February 2017

By chemical analysis of the upper 40 m of a 124 m ice core from a high-altitude Alpine glacier (Colle Gnifetti, Swiss Alps; 4450 m a.s.l.), records of mineral dust, pH, melt-water conductivity, nitrate and sulfate are obtained. The characteristics of the drilling site are discussed, as derived from glacio-meteorological and chemical analysis. As a consequence of high snow-erosion rates (usually during the winter months), annual snow accumulation is dominated by summer precipitation. Clean-air conditions prevail even during summer; however, they are frequently interrupted by polluted air masses or by air masses which are heavily loaded with desert dust.

Absolutely dated reference horizons for Saharan dust, together with the position of the broad nuclear-weapon tritium peak, provide the time-scale for the following statements:

(1) Since at least the turn of the century the background melt-water conductivity has been rising steadily, as has the mean snow acidity. The trend of increasing background conductivity at Colle Gnifetti (1.9μS/cm around the beginning of this century, and at present 3.4 μS/cm) is found to be comparable with the records of mean melt-water conductivity reported from ice cores from the Canadian High Arctic.

(2) Sulfate and nitrate concentrations are higher by a factor of 4–5 than they were at the beginning of the century. This is to be compared with the two- to three-fold rise in the concentrations in south Greenland during about the same time span.
Depositional Regime of the Katabatic slope from Mizuho Plateau to the coast, East Antarctica
Authors: Watanabe Okitsugu , Fujii Yoshiyuki , Satow Kazuhide
Published: February 2017

Recently, a 700 m long ice core was drilled at Mizuho Station (2230 m a.s.1.), 270 km south-east of Syowa Station and situated in a typical katabatic-slope region.

In order to obtain basic knowledge for dating the core and for interpreting climatic change and depositional environment change along the core, a study of the regional characteristics of the snow-deposition regime on Mizuho plateau has started. Surface-firn cores 10–30 m deep and snow-stake data obtained along the traverse routes on Mizuho plateau since 1970 were analyzed.

The general trend of annual snow accumulation and the regional characteristics of the δ18O profile of snow cover were obtained.
Structure and Flow in the Margin of the Law Dome Ice Cap. Antarctica (Abstract)
Authors: Young Neal W.
Published: February 2017

The internal structure of the Law Dome ice cap is being investigated by studying ice cores obtained from several sites along the summit-Cape Folger line. Profiles of measured physical properties for four of the ice cores from near the margin of the ice cap are presented. A comparison of the profiles shows a gradual increase and then decrease in crystal size, and the development of strong crystal anisotropy in the upper half of the ice thickness. But in the lower part there is a complex multi-layer crystallographic structure, with an interleaving of ice which has markedly different physical properties. The development of the physical properties in the ice cores is discussed in terms of the deformation in the ice cap in the neighbourhood of the bore holes and the movement of the ice over the rough bedrock. The interdependence of the physical properties and the flow within the ice cap and their effect on other proxy records obtained from the ice cores are also explored.

The Law Dome is a small ice cap, about 200 km in diameter, adjoining the main Antarctic ice sheet. It is being studied as a model ice cap, using surface surveys and ice-core drilling. It is large enough to have most of the features of larger ice sheets but small enough to be investigated in considerable detail. The four cores were drilled within 10 km of the coast at Cape Folger and lie approximately along a flow line. Each of the cores covers the Holocene and at least the later part of the Last Glacial Maximum. Two of the cores are within 40 m of bedrock and the remaining two, in thinner ice nearer the coast, are within a few metres of bedrock. Physical properties which were measured include: crystal size, texture and orientation; bubble size, orientation and distribution; and visible stratigraphy. The stratigraphy in the upper layers is related mainly to the occurrence of surface melting during the warmer months of the year. Additional supporting information is available from measurements of the physical properties on shallow cores up-stream of the four bore holes, from radio echo-sounding profiles and from other studies on the ice cores. This data is used in the discussion of the velocity field in the ice cap.
Ice Structure and Crystal Fabrics of the 2200 M Ice Core at Vostok Station, Antarctica
Authors: Barkov N.I. , Lipenkov V.Ya. , Petrov V.N.
Published: February 2017

Both the ice structure and the ice fabric along the 2200 m ice core at Vostok Station were investigated during the 25th, 29th and 30th Soviet Antarctic Expeditions.

Several kinds of three-dimensional parameters of polycrystalline ice were measured, e.g. the mean diameter and size distribution of ice crystals and air bubbles, and specific volume

The variation in most of these parameters along the core reflects not only the process of metamorphism in ice but also changes in the environmental conditions at the surface. The causes of these variations are discussed, in order to estimate the possibility of a paleoclimatic interpretation.

The evolution of c-axis fabrics with depth is discussed in relation to the ice-deformation conditions.

A comparison of ice fabrics at Vostok, Byrd Station and Camp Century shows that similar mechanisms cause the reorientation of crystals. The role of temperature in fabric development is discussed.
Flood generation and destruction of “Drift” Glacier by the 1989–90 eruption of Redoubt Volcano, Alaska
Authors: Trabant D. C. , Meyer D. F.
Published: February 2017

Mid -winter flooding of the Drift River was caused by melting of snow and glacier ice during the 1989–90 eruption of Redoubt Volcano. “Drift” Glacier (unofficial name) was beheaded when 110 to 120 × 106m3of perennial snow and ice were mechanically entrained by the four largest volcanically initiated flows. The flow volumes were increased by incorporation of the seasonal snowpack on the lower glacier surface and in the flooded river valley. The seasonal snow contributed a volume equivalent to about 35 × 106m3of water to the flows, increasing the cumulative flood volume by almost 30%. No large amounts of meltwater were stored on or under the glacier before any of the flows took place. The threat of flooding was significantly reduced after the second major eruption removed the remainder of the easily erodible snow and ice.
Basal deformation of Ürümqi Glacier No. 1, Tien Shan mountains, China
Authors: Jing Xiaoping , Maohuan Chen , Mingxie Jin , Lorrain R. D.
Published: February 2017

Basal deformation was studied in tunnel 2 in the east tributary of Ürümqi Glacier No. 1, Tien Shan mountains. Beneath the tunnel there is an ice-laden till layer, about 11 m thick and at a sub-freezing temperature. This layer is deformable and provides a significant part of the overall surface motion. The basal velocity in the tunnel gradually decreases from the back wall towards the entrance, with a compressive strain rate ranging from −0.579 to −5.739 × 10−2a−1. The inclination of the principal strain rate to the horizontal gradually decreases from the back wall towards the tunnel entrance. The study provides data on the longitudinal compression and vertical uplift in the basal ice and ice-laden till layer resulting from interaction of glacier with recently exposed proglacial deposits.
The dramatic retreat of Mount Kenya’s glaciers between 1963 and 1987: greenhouse forcing
Authors: Hastenrath Stefan , Kruss Phillip D.
Published: February 2017

The retreat of the glaciers on Mount Kenya is quantitatively well documented for the intervals 1899–1963 and 1963–1987. The ice recession between 1899 and 1963 was strongly dependent on solar radiation geometry. By contrast, the ice thinning between 1963 and 1987 amounted to about 15 m for all glaciers regardless of topographic location. This suggests that climatic forcings other than solar radiation have become more prominent.

Sensitivity analyses indicate that the energy supply of about 5 W m−2, required to produce the observed ice thinning through melting, can be accounted for by a combination of climatic forcings. The direct effect of changing atmospheric composition (“greenhouse effect”) on the net longwave radiation could have contributed less than 1 W m−2. A warming of 0.0 to 0.2°C would translate into an additional downward-directed sensible heat transfer of 0.0 to 1.4 W m−2. A 0.1 to 0.2 g kg−1 increase in specific humidity would, through savings in the latent heat transfer, contribute 2 to 4 W m−2.

Long-term station records show little warming trend for East Africa itself. However, mid-tropospheric specific humidity trends of about 0.6 g kg−1 over the past two decades in the equatorial belt have been reported in the literature, and considered to be consequences of “global warming” and the “greenhouse effect”.

Viewed in perspective, the ice wastage on Mount Kenya between 1963 and 1987 appears to have been driven primarily by three climatic forcings, conceivably all steered by the “greenhouse effect”: a direct forcing through the net longwave radiation; an indirect forcing through warming and therefore enhanced sensible heat transfer; and another indirect forcing through warming (not necessarily in the region itself), leading to increased (advected) atmospheric moisture, and hence to reduced latent heat transfer, this last line of control being the most important.
Reactions of a calving glacier to large changes in water level
Authors: Laumann Tron , Wold Bjørn
Published: February 2017

Austdalsvatn in western Norway was regulated in 1988 as a reservoir for a hydropower development. From a pre-1988 water level of 1157 m a.s.l. the new water level will vary more or less annually from 1170 to 1200 m a.s.l. The outlet glacier Austdalsbreen calves into this reservoir. About 1600 m up-valley from its terminus the glacier flows over a bedrock riegel that is, at its lowest point, ∼ 15 m above the projected maximum lake level of 1200 m. As a result of the increase in water level, the surface velocity near the front has increased from about 0.07 to 0.13 m d−1.

Calculations suggest that the glacier terminus will retreat about 750 m in 50 years. The measured response of the glacier terminus for the first three years is in good agreement with the simulations.
Glacier lake outburst flood disasters in China
Authors: Yongjian Ding , Jingshi Liu
Published: February 2017

Floods caused by outbursts from lakes dammed either by end moraines or by glaciers are the most important disasters related to glaciers in China. The former occur mainly in Tibet, and the latter in Xinjiang Province. Exceptionally large outbursts from lakes dammed by end moraines have been reported 19 times since 1935 amd 30 outbursts from glacier-dammed lakes have been recorded since 1956. Outbursts from lakes dammed by end moraines are closely associated with ice avalanches, and 79% of all dam failures occur during July to August when ice avalanches are frequent. Outbursts from glacier-dammed lakes often occur in years of very high air temperature, and 63.3% of all failures are between August and September when the storage capacities of glacier lakes reach their limit. Whether or not the end moraine-dammed lakes are of potential danger depends on the flow of the glacier that feeds the lake and the vertical distance between the terminus of the glacier and the level of the lake. The frequency of periods of outbursts from glacier-dammed lakes corresponds to the periods of glacier advance. During the last 160 years, three periods of frequent outbursts from glacier-dammed lakes have occurred. Their duration has been 20 to 30 years and the interval between them about 40 years. The frequency of glacier lake outbursts could increase early in the next century if glaciers advance and dam up new marginal lakes in response to a cold period since 1940.
A Surface Integral Method for Determining Ice Loads on Offshore Structures from In Situ Measurements
Authors: Johnson Jerome B.
Published: February 2017

Two methods are presented for calculating ice loads on structures using measurements from sensors imbedded in a floating ice sheet and from instruments attached to a structure. The first method uses a mathematical model describing ice/structure interaction for a cylindrical structure to interpret stress measurements. This technique requires only a few sensors to develop an estimate of ice loads, However, analytical and experimental results indicate that using a mathematical model to interpret stress measurements can result in inaccurate load estimates due to uncertainty in the accuracy of the model and and the uncertainty of using local ice stresses to calculate total ice forces. The second method of calculating ice loads on structures utilizes Euler and Cauchy’s stress principle. In this, the surface integral method, the force acting on a structure is determined by summing the stress vectors acting on a surface which encompasses the structure. Application of this technique requires that the shear and normal components of stress be known along the surface. Sensors must be spaced close enough together so that local stress variations due to the process of ice failure around a structure can be detected. The surface integral method is a useful technique for interpreting load and stress measurements since a knowledge of the mechanism of ice/structure interactions is not needed. The accuracy of the method is determined by the density of sensors along the surface. A disadvantage of the technique is that a relatively large number of sensors are needed to determine the stress tensor along the surface of interest.

The surface integral method can be used to examine the effects of grounded ice rubble on structural ice loads. Two instrumented surfaces, one enclosing a structure and the other enclosing the structure and rubble field can be used to estimate the load acting only on the structure and also on the structure/ rubble-field system.
Experimental Studies on Snow Accretion at Subzero Temperatures
Authors: Mizuno Yukiko , Wakahama Gorow
Published: February 2017

In order to clarify the process of snow accretion, which occurs at a temperature below the melting point of ice, experimental studies were made on the microscopic process of ice Adhesion as well as the tensile adhesive strength of snow onto various kinds of materials.

For this purpose, direct observations were made of the formation of an ice bond developed at the interface between an ice particle and a plate made of a transparent material such as glass, acrylic plastic (polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)), or ice, and measurements made of the growth rate of the real contact area.

The growth rate of an ice bond formed at the interface between an ice particle and the plate of a hydrophilic material such as glass was equal to or slightly larger than that of ice sintering, while an ice bond was not formed at the interface between an ice particle and the plate of a hydrophobic material such as teflon.

As for adhesive strength, with the lapse of time it increased rapidly at the former interface and slowly at the latter interface. Examinations of fracture planes revealed that at or near the interface a pure adhesive break did not take place with the exception of teflon and vinyl, and that what took place there was a cohesive break or a mixture of cohesive and adhesive breaks.
Field Test 1 of Compressive Strength of First-Year Sea Ice
Authors: Sinha N. K.
Published: February 2017

A test program undertaken in April 1981 on the uniaxial compressive strength of freshly recovered first-year columnar-grained sea ice at a portable field laboratory floating on top of the ice cover in Eclipse Sound, Baffin Island, Canadian Arctic, is reported. Using a small battery-operated test machine, both vertical and horizontal samples were tested so that the load could be applied either parallel or perpendicular to the axis of the columns. Rate sensitivity of the observed strength is discussed in terms of measured average strain-rate and average stress-rate to upper yield or failure. Strain and time aspects of the test results are considered as well. Although vertical samples showed considerably greater strength than horizontal samples, no significant differences were detected in the failure strains. Examination of the interdependence of failure stress and failure time revealed certain anomalies in the results for vertical samples that could be linked to the performance characteristics of the test machine. As such problems could be common to any test system, methods of analysis are proposed for rational examination of the results.
Measuring Snow Water Equivalent by Cosmic Radiation
Authors: Fritzsche W.
Published: February 2017

We have reduced the time taken for measurement of snow water equivalent using cosmic radiation by two to four hours with an accuracy of 1 cm of water equivalent. When BF3 counters were used by Kodama in 1975, it took three days. For comparison we sometimes still have to make measurements manually or automatically in flat areas. These measurements can then be compared with measurements from avalanche starting zones where conditions can be quite different because of wind or ablation.

For avalanche forecasting, or in similar situations, when an accuracy of 1 cm is needed within a few hours, we suggest the use of scintillation counters with a doped plastic material. The greatest accuracy is obtained by using a separate site where values are recorded without snow. In this case 200 000 pulses per hour are obtained (absorption length of 400 cm) which after measurements of 2 h duration gives the desired error of 1 cm of water. After 8 h the error is 0.5 cm of water, and after 24 h it is 0.3 cm of water. At an altitude of 2 000 m at which most avalanches are released, the count rate is doubled and the measuring error is 0.7 of that at sea-level. At an altitude of 3 000 m the count rate is four times that at sea-level. In other regions at other latitudes and elevations other values would be found.

The necessary equipment can be built into the ground in autumn so that the surface is level with the ground. A slot antenna of frequency around 400 MHz is used for transmission of the data.
Investigations of the Oxygen-18 Content of Samples from Snow Pits and Ice Cores from the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelves and Ekström Ice Shelf
Authors: Reinwarth O. , Graf W. , Stichler W. , Moser H. , Oerter H.
Published: February 2017

Since 1979–80, isotope studies with oxygen-18 (18O) have been carried out at several snow pits and ice cores near the German Georg-von-Neumayer station (Ekström ice shelf, Atka Bay), as well as from the Filchner-Ronne ice shelves, in the framework of the German Antarctic research programme. The investigations of snow pits on the Filchner-Ronne ice shelves yield a standard deviation for the annual average δ18O values of approximately 1‰ over the last five years, and a decrease of δ18O with distance from the ice edge of about 1‰ per 50 km. The variation of δ18O for stratigraphically matching snow layers from snow pits at the same location in different years is about 0.3‰ on the Filchner-Ronne ice shelves, and 0.8‰ at Georg-von-Neumayer station. The mean annual accumulation rate in the surroundings of Georg-von-Neumayer station was determined to be 34 g cm-2 for the years 1977–81. On the Filchner-Ronne ice shelves the mean annual accumulation rate (1979–83) decreases from 22 g cm−2 at Filchner station to 15 g cm−2 at traverse point T340, located 200 km southeast of Filchner station.
Sulphur and Heavy Metal Pollution in Urban Snow: Multi-Elemental Analytical Techniques and Interpretations
Authors: Landsberger S. , Jervis R.E.
Published: February 2017

Three multi-elemental techniques (neutron activation analysis, proton-induced X-ray emission and inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry) are described in terms of their special advantages in determining sulphur and heavy metal pollution in urban snow. Environmental analytical interpretations, including wash-out factors, enrichment factors, inter-elemental correlations, mobilization factors, and toxicity potential, are also discussed.
Characteristic Growth Processes of Ice Crystals on the Antarctic Ice Sheet
Authors: Nishimura Hiroshi , Maeno Norikazu
Published: February 2017

Characteristic growth processes were investigated by measuring cross-sectional areas of ice crystals for four 30 m snow cores drilled in Mizuho Plateau, Antarctica. Considerable difference was found in the growth rate of crystals between a temperature-gradient layer above 6 m depth and an isothermal layer below 10 m depth: the growth rate in the temperature-gradient layer was much larger than that in the isothermal layer. In the isothermal layer, temperature dependence of the growth rate K was expressed by an equation K = K
0 exp(−E/RT), where R and T are the gas constant and absolute temperature respectively. The apparent activation energy E is 44.7 kJ mol−1.

On the other hand, in the temperature-gradient layer, the apparent activation energy was as small as 12 kJ mol−1: the difference was explained as due to the temperature gradient. Using the temperature profiles in snow that have been estimated from the meteorological data from several stations, the growth rates in the temperature-gradient layer were calculated. The calculated temperature dependence of the growth rates, taking into consideration vertical flux of water vapor between ice particles caused by the temperature gradient, showed good agreement with measured results. It is concluded that the growth process in the layer above 6 m depth is mainly due to vapor transport under the vertical temperature gradient.
Antarctic Icebergs – Production, Distribution and Disintegration (Abstract)
Authors: Orheim Olav
Published: February 2017

A programme of systematic iceberg observations was initiated in 1981 by Norsk Polarinstitutt through the SCAR Working Group on Glaciology. Icebergs are recorded every 6 h and in five length groups: 10-50, 50-200, 200-500 and 500-1000 m, and those over 1000 m, which are described individually. Data on more than 100 000 icebergs are now on file at Norsk Polarinstitutt, and practically all ships travelling to and from Antarctica participate in the collection of data.

This paper presents the first comprehensive analysis of the iceberg data. The quality of the data set is discussed, with consideration of potential errors in and limitations of the data, and various statistical evaluations. Representative distribution data are presented, and used to determine iceberg production, disintegration and mean residence times, and regional and total Antarctic calving rates.

The incidence of large-scale calving in particular is evaluated, including the remarkably large break-offs in recent years. These exceed both the total annual accumulation on the Antarctic continent and the mean annual calving rate as determined from ship observations.

The results show further: (1) that there are more than 200 000 icebergs south of the Antarctic Convergence, (2) that there are large regional differences in iceberg calving rates and iceberg sizes, and (3) that the calving rate from Antarctica is higher than that given in most previous estimates, which implies (4) that the mass balance of the Antarctic ice sheet is not positive as suggested by most recent estimates.
Distribution of Surface Features and Surface Mass Balance of Ice Sheet, East Queen Maud Land, Antarctica (Abstract)
Authors: Fujii Yoshiyuki , Ageta Yukata
Published: February 2017

Surface features were classified morphologically and described along oversnow traverse routes from the coast to the inland high plateau of east Queen Maud Land, Antarctica, during the 1984 and 1985 summer seasons. The distribution of surface features reveals regional characteristics which reflect differences in the regional deposition-erosion process.

On the basis of observation of surface features and measurements of surface mass balance, the ice-sheet surface of east Queen Maud Land is sub-divided according to different environmental zones:

(1)

Ablation zone (below 700 m a.s.l.): melting of snow occurs. Dry snow line approximates the altitude where the maximum air temperature is 0°C.

(2)

Coastal continuous accumulation zone (700–1800 m a.s.l.): snow accumulation occurs continuously and the surface is flat because of high snow precipitation and a slight katabatic wind.

(3)

Discontinuous accumulation zone (1800–2500 m a.s.l.): a rough surface of sastrugi dominates this zone. Snow accumulation is discontinuous in space and time because of low snow precipitation and strong katabatic wind. Negative annual snow accumulation was observed at 20–30% of the stakes set every 2 km along the traverse route. Mizuho Station is located in this zone.

(4)

Long-term accumulation-free zone (2500–3400 m a.s.l.): long-term absence of snow accumulation occurs at the glazed surface, which consists of a multi-layered ice crust several millimetres thick. A glazed surface develops over a distance of 1–20 km when the surface undulation is steeper, and covers 30–50% of the area in this zone. A hiatus sequence of snow accumulation is thought to continue for about 10–100 years over the glazed surface region.

(5)

Inland continuous accumulation zone (above 3400 m a.s.l.): a flat surface dominates in this zone. Snow accumulation occurs continuously because there is a weak katabatic wind in the central high plateau in spite of a very small amount of precipitation.
Numerical Models of Ice-Shelf Flow: Ideal/Real
Authors: Lange M.A. , MacAyeal D.R.
Published: February 2017

We present model calculations that describe the flow of ice shelves of different configurations. We consider “ideal” models with well-defined boundary conditions and simple geometry in order to explore the response of an ice shelf to transient variations in ice-stream input. Gradually increasing the complexity of these simple models allows a better understanding of ice-shelf behavior without the complications that would arise in considering natural ice shelves. We find that the dissipation of ice-thickness variations caused by ice-stream transience is strongly influenced by ice rheology. The presence of an ice rise significantly alters the velocity field of the adjacent ice, when changes in ice-stream input occur. With models of “real” ice shelves, we demonstrate the ability of numerical models to test successfully working hypotheses on ice-shelf thickness distributions. Ice velocities, obtained by diagnostic models of Filchner–Ronne Ice Shelf that use different ice-thickness distributions, are compared with measured ice velocities. This comparison demonstrates that the model employing regions of thin ice in the central part of the ice shelf yields velocities significantly different from the field data. We therefore conclude that zones of thin ice on Filchner–Ronne ice Shelf are unlikely. This conclusion has recently been confirmed by field measurements.
The Impact of Milankovitch Solar Radiation Variations on Sea-Ice and Air Temperature in a Coupled Energy-Balance Climate-Sea-Ice Model
Authors: Ledley Tamara Shapiro
Published: February 2017

The sensitivity of thermodynamically-varying sea-ice and surface air temperature to variations in solar radiation on the 104 to 105 time scales is examined in this study. Model simulation results show the mean annual sea-ice thickness is very sensitive to the magnitude of midsummer solar radiation. During periods of high midsummer solar radiation between 115 ka B.P. and the present the sea ice is thinner, producing larger summer time leads and longer periods of open ocean. This has an effect on the mean annual sea-ice thickness, but not on the mean annual air temperature. However, the changes in sea ice are accompanied by similar variations in the summer surface air temperature, which are the result of the variations in the solar radiation and meridional energy transport.
Glacier Recession and Lake Shrinkage Indicating a Climatic Warming and Drying Trend in Central Asia
Authors: Yafeng Shi , Jiawen Ren
Published: February 2017

Mass balance observations on Urumqi River No. 1 Glacier and Tuyuksu Glacier in Tianshan show a large deficit during the 1980s as compared to the decades before. The Qinghai Lake in northeastern Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau and the Issyk-kul Lake in Soviet Tianshan have been continuously shrinking during the past few centuries. Since the maximum of the Little Ice Age which occurred mainly in the 18th century, glaciers have decreased in area by about 44% in the Urumqi valley. These data and other evidence from glaciers, lakes, etc. clearly indicate that the climatic warming and drying tendency grows stronger in this century and will possibly persist to the early decades of the next century. The growing greenhouse effect due to the increase of CO2 and other related gases will enhance this tendency in the near future. However, should the high temperature period of the early and middle Holocene reappear, the climate would become humid.
Thermally and Mechanically Induced Regelation of Ice
Authors: Horiguchi Kaoru , Miller R. D.
Published: February 2017

At temperatures slightly below 0°C, ice filling a smooth-walled chamber that has porous phase barriers at either end can move through the chamber in a process resembling regelation; supercooled water passes through one barrier and freezes at the same time that ice melts at the other, emerging through the second barrier as supercooled water. The process may be induced mechanically (by differential water pressures at the phase barriers) or thermally {by imposed temperature differentials). The ice moves as a rigid body with slippage at the ice-wall boundary of the chamber. An apparent coefficient of static friction can be deduced and appeared to be about 0.12 for ice at a machined nylon wall at about -0.04 ˚C.