The Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE) has conducted glaciological studies on Mizuho Plateau since 1981. We have already reported that the ice sheet flowing from Mizuho Plateau into Shirase Glacier is thinning at a rate of about 70 cm/year and that the profile of the distribution of basal shear stress is similar to that of surging glaciers.

A 5 year glaciological programme on Mizuho Plateau and in east Queen Maud Land is now being carried out and we have obtained the following new results:

(1) The ice sheet in the down-stream region (where ice elevation is lower than about 2400 m) is thinning, based on measurements of horizontal and vertical flow velocity, strain-rate, the slope of the ice surface, the accumulation rate and densification of snow.

(2) δ18O analysis of deep ice cores obtained at Mizuho Station (2240 m a.s.l.) and point G2 (1730 m a.s.l.) shows that δ18O increased about 200 years ago at Mizuho Station and about 400 years ago at point G2. If we can assume that the increase in δ18O is caused by the thinning of the ice sheet, then this result means that this thinning propagates to up-stream areas.

(3) Radio-echo-sounding measurements on Mizuho Plateau show that the ice base in the down-stream region is wet. This supports the result described in (1), since the basal sliding due to a wet base causes ice-sheet thinning, as proposed in our previous studies.

In summary, a possible explanation of ice-sheet variation on Mizuho Plateau is as follows: the thinning of the ice sheet, caused by the basal sliding due to basal ice melting, started at Shirase Glacier and has been propagating up-stream to reach its present position. A simple calculation, using flow velocities, shows that the thinning started at Shirase Glacier about 1500–2000 years ago.

Trace elements in ice samples taken from Law Dome, Antarctica, were analysed, using an instrumental neutron-activation analysis technique. A Jupiter multichannel analyser-computer system coupled to a Ge(Li) detector was used for the acquisition of γ-spectra, and for data reduction. “Blanks” in water and in nitric acid, which were used in pre-concentration and sample transfer, were also analysed. To check the validity of this analytical procedure, a U.S. Environment Protection Agency water standard for trace elements was analysed. The observed values agreed with the certified values.

The results (in ppb) of eight elements are:

Table 2

The enrichment factors for these eight elements relative to the Earth's crust were calculated. These elements can be subdivided into three groups or sources according to their enrichment factors. The variations in elemental concentrations with depth show no positive tendency towards a systematic increase or decrease over the past 5000 years.

At the summit of Law Dome (66°44′S, 112°50′E) the annual snow accumulation is equivalent to 0.7 m of water, and seasonal cycles of oxygen-isotope ratio are preserved clearly in the firn. Isotope-ratio measurements on three 28 m deep ice cores taken 15 m apart near the summit show that although annual layer thicknesses are well correlated between the cores, the actual isotope values (even when averaged over several years’ accumulation) are poorly correlated.

Since the three sites must obviously receive the same precipitation, the differences in isotope ratio imply that the amounts of the precipitation retained as accumulation from individual snow-falls throughout the year must vary. The large seasonal variation in isotope ratio then easily accounts for the offsets.

In the Law Dome region, precipitation occurs mainly as a result of cyclonic activity in spring, winter and autumn. The stronger winds experienced at these times cause the snow to be formed into large dunes, which are the stable (although moving) surface configuration under these conditions. The movement of dunes by erosion on one face and deposition on the other causes the snow in them to be well mixed. Isotope measurements on a 0.7 m high dune on the inland ice cap showed that it was composed of “winter” snow, with an average isotope value of −28.2% and a range of only 1%. The harder underlying snow had values which varied between −24.2 and −27.4%.

During periods of relatively calm or warm conditions the dunes become consolidated and their movement is greatly reduced. Further snow-falls then do not add accumulation to the top and up-wind side of the dunes but tend to fill them in on the down-wind side. In particular it is observed that for Law Dome the surface profile is quite rough in winter and spring, but the more gentle winds and light snow-falls experienced in summer produce a very smooth surface at the beginning of autumn, with all the surface hollows filled in.

The ice-core isotope profiles confirm the evenness of the summer accumulation, compared to that of winter. Correlation coefficients are typically 0.26 for the winter minima and 0.65 for the summer peak in isotope ratio. This means that somewhat shorter averaging times can be used when compiling “climatic” records from isotope profiles if only the “summer” isotope values are used. This is useful in comparison of isotopic and meteorological data when only a limited time span is available.

Apart from the short-term effects, which can be reduced as desired by longer averaging periods, these core studies also demonstrate how any process which can modulate the precipitation or accumulation will also affect the isotopic composition of the accumulated snow.

During the first wintering by Indian scientists in Antarctica, from December 1983 to February 1985, year-round measurements of the strength of the snow cover were carried out to a depth of 1 m on Dakshin Gangotri Ice Shelf in East Antarctica, around the Indian Antarctic research station Dakshin Gangotri (70°05′S, 12°E). The measurements covered an area of 625 km2 around Dakshin Gangotri Station. Ten to 15 snow-hardness profiles per month were taken at different locations, using a Swiss ramsonde, and the values of ram resistance so obtained at different depths were averaged for each profile at depth intervals of 15 cm. These values were later tabulated and the minimum, maximum and average values obtained for each month were calculated. The values of ram resistance so obtained for each period were then used for determining unconfined compressive-strength profiles of the snow cover during different winter periods, using the correlation function given by Abele (1963).

Based on these values, the average unconfined compressive strengths of snow cover were calculated for different depths in the ranges 0–30 cm, 0–45 cm, 0–60 cm, 45–100 cm, 60–100 cm, and 75–100 cm. Preliminary results show that the snow cover below 45 cm generally has high strength throughout the year, whereas the strength of the snow cover from 0 to 45 cm varies greatly with the time of year. This layer from 0 to 45 cm shows a general increase in strength from January to September, with peak values occurring between June and September. Strength decreases gradually from October to December, which is the warm period in Antarctica.

The hardness-profile values obtained by ramsonde, when duly converted into unconfined compressive strength, give a fair indication of trafficability of wheeled and tracked vehicles at different times of the year on the ice shelf. They also indicate the load-bearing capacity of the surface snow for landing light- to medium-weight aircraft.

Fourteen shallow and medium-depth cores have been drilled from the Law Dome ice cap, between the summit and the coast near Casey Station. Measurements of their crystal and other physical properties are reviewed briefly. The variations along the cores in crystal size, orientation, fabric type and strength, and bubble dimensions, are used to define the internal structure of the ice cap locally at the bore-hole sites. Surveys of bore-hole deformation and the shape and movement of the ice cap are used to define relations between the structure and the variables: stress, temperature, strain-rate and accumulated strain. The relations and the survey data are incorporated in a numerical model in order to deduce the internal structure of the ice cap along a flow line linking the bore-hole sites. The results of the model in turn depend on the crystal anisotropy of the calculated structure.

The main results are provided by the medium-depth bore holes located at the summit, near the margin, and about half-way along the flow line. The major features of the internal structure are determined by the predominant shear deformation in the ice cap. There is horizontal continuity in the properties and structure within the group of bore holes near the margin of the ice cap. There are distinct differences, between the coastal and the inland ice cores, in the changes in properties with depth. Near the margin a strong single-maximum fabric develops within the upper 60% of the ice thickness; crystal size initially increases with depth, then shows a marked decrease at about 50% thickness. For the inland cores, a strong single-maximum fabric also develops, but at a greater total depth and a much shallower fraction of the thickness. A similar decrease in crystal size was not observed.

The broad-scale trends of the properties are reproduced by the model. The finer-scale deviations in the properties can be explained by the effects of longitudinal strain and of past changes in surface conditions, such as the effect of surface melting. A complex stress distribution, related to flow over rough bedrock, needs to be invoked to explain the pronounced multi-layer structure in the lower part of the ice cores from near the margin. A series of time lines is modelled, following the flow along the ice-particle trajectories, to produce the stress, temperature and deformation histories of the ice in the cores. These provide the basic data for a reconstruction of past changes in the ice cap.

New tiltmeter data from Doake Ice Rumples on Ronne Ice Shelf are presented. The tiltmeters detected flexing of the ice shelf close to the grounding line, due to tidal forces. In earlier studies on Rutford Ice Stream, flow was from grounded ice into the floating ice shelf. In contrast, the area studied on Ronne Ice Shelf exhibits flow from the ice shelf on to grounded ice rumples.

The data span 5 km of the up-stream ice shelf and much of the grounded ice. Approximately 30 d of continuous tilt data are available for one site on the ice shelf. Analysis of this record can determine the dominant tidal frequencies present.

A number of shorter records cover periods normally of a few days. These were obtained from sites both up-stream and down-stream of the long-term site. They have been used to investigate the variation in tilt amplitude with distance from the grounding line.

The approximate position of the grounding line was located from the position of strand cracks and by using surface-elevation and ice-thickness data. The tiltmeters helped to confirm this position. Over grounded ice, tidal flexing is clearly present up to about 2 km from the grounding line. Beyond this it appears to be absent. The signal recorded by tiltmeters on grounded ice farther than 2 km from the grounding line is attributed, at present, to a temperature dependency of the tiltmeters.

The flexing of ice shelves at tidal frequencies has previously been treated as an elastic problem. Available models which use beam theory require the use of a time-dependent function and a reduced “effective” ice thickness in the elastic modulus. On preliminary analysis, data from the ice shelf and grounding line of Doake Ice Rumples appear to be consistent with these theories. More detailed analysis and interpretation is required in order to confirm the level of agreement and to determine possible variations due to the “reversed” nature of the flow direction.