By using recently developed automatic instruments for fabric and texture measurements on ice, both the c-axis orientation and area of the individual crystals can be determined. Each grain can then be associated with its volume fraction, defined as a function of its measured cross-sectional area, to describe the microstructure of a poly-crystal. The relevance of this approach is studied using a three-dimensional microstructure obtained from the Potts model. In particular, the area weighting is compared to the classical implicit equal weighting used by glaciologists, which assumes that all the grains have the same volume fraction (discrete uniform distribution). Then, using the measurements of c-axis orientation and crystal size performed on the North Greenland Icecore Project (NorthGRIP) ice core, we compare area-weighted and equal-weighted fabrics. All these comparisons are made with respect to the orientation tensor. According to the ability of the Potts model to reproduce the ice microstructure, it is shown that using the grain cross-sectional area to infer its volume fraction improves the description of the actual polycrystal fabric.

This contribution discusses results obtained from 3-D neutron diffraction and 2-D fabric analyser in situ deformation experiments on laboratory-prepared polycrystalline deuterated ice and ice containing a second phase. The two-phase samples used in the experiments are composed of an ice matrix with (1) air bubbles, (2) rigid, rhombohedral-shaped calcite and (3) rheologically soft, platy graphite. Samples were tested at 10°C below the melting point of deuterated ice at ambient pressures, and two strain rates of 1 × 10−5 s−1 (fast) and 2.5 × 10−6 s−1 (medium). Nature and distribution of the second phase controlled the rheological behaviour of the ice by pinning grain boundary migration. Peak stresses increased with the presence of second-phase particles and during fast strain rate cycles. Ice-only samples exhibit well-developed crystallographic preferred orientations (CPOs) and dynamically recrystallized microstructures, typifying deformation via dislocation creep, where the CPO intensity is influenced in part by the strain rate. CPOs are accompanied by a concentration of [c]-axes in cones about the compression axis, coinciding with increasing activity of prismatic-<a> slip activity. Ice with second phases, deformed in a relatively slower strain rate regime, exhibit greater grain boundary migration and stronger CPO intensities than samples deformed at higher strain rates or strain rate cycles.

Laboratory experiments were performed to determine the optical properties of young salt ice and to examine correlations between the optical properties and the state of the ice. Ice was grown at different temperatures (–10, –20, –30, and –37°C) from water of different salinities (0, 16, and 31‰). The experiments were conducted in a cylindrical tank 1 m in diameter designed to approximate natural ice growth and to permit in situ optical measurements. Observed incident, reflected, and transmitted irradiances were used in conjunction with a modified Dunkle and Bevans photometric model to determine spectral albedos and extinction coefficients. Cold ice only 0.25 m thick had albedos which were comparable to the values for 2 to 3 m multi-year ice examined by previous researchers during the summer melt season; extinction coefficients were 1.5 to 15 times greater. As the ice temperature and hence brine volume decreased, both albedo and extinction coefficient increased; when the ice temperature dropped below the eutectic point, they increased sharply. In addition, ice grown at lower air temperatures had greater albedos and extinction coefficients even when ice temperatures were the same. Variations in the optical properties of the ice are determined by changes in the amount of brine and its distribution; thus the optical properties of salt ice depend not only on ice temperature but on initial growth rate. Variations in ice salinity over the range 4‰ to 14‰ produced no detectable changes in the optical properties.

Ice-thickness measurements in Antarctic ice-shelf grounding zones are necessary for calculating the mass balance of individual catchments, but remain poorly constrained for most of the continent. We describe a new inverse modelling optimization approach to estimate ice thickness in the grounding zone of Antarctic outlet glaciers and ice shelves using spatial patterns of tide-induced flexure derived from differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR). We demonstrate that the illposedness of the inverse formulation of the elastic-plate equations for bending can be controlled by regularization. In one dimension, the model recreates smooth, synthesized profiles of ice thickness from flexure information to within 1–2%. We test the method in two dimensions and validate it in the grounding zone of Beardmore Glacier, a major outlet glacier in the Transantarctic Mountains, using interferograms created from TerraSAR-X satellite imagery acquired in 2012. We compare our results with historic and modern ice-thickness data (radio-echo sounding from 1967 and ground-penetrating radar from 2010). We match both longitudinal and transverse thickness transects to within 50 m root-mean-square error using an effective Young’s modulus of 1.4 GPa. The highest accuracy is achieved close to the grounded ice boundary, where current estimates of thickness based on surface elevation measurements contain a systematic bias towards thicker ice.

Ice observations and sediment samples were collected in the Beaufort Gyre in 1988. Fine sediment occurred in very small patches of turbid ice, as thin spotty surface layers, in mud pellets or in old snowdrifts. The latter were widespread south of 74°N, containing an estimated 22 tonnes of silt and clay km−2. Average particle concentration in sea ice (40mg l−1) was much higher than in sea water (0.8 mg l−1) or in new snow, but the sediment load was significantly smaller and of finer texture compared to that observed in a shelfal source area after a major entrainment event. About 30% of the sediment consisted of small pellets. Mud in pellets has similar texture, clay minerals and organic/inorganic carbon content as dispersed mud. Particle sizes <16μm dominate, sand is less than 1%, compared to as much as 8% in four samples obtained in 1971 and 1972. Organic carbon content is about 2%, illite dominates clay minerals (~50%), and diatoms suggest a shelf sediment source. From the prevalence of wind-reworked surficial deposits, the spotty occurrence of only small patches of turbid ice in old clean ice, and the virtual lack of sand-size material, we assume the sediment had drifted at least 2 years since entrainment and was distant from its source. Assuming one-third of the load is released each year, the estimated deposition rate would equal the measured Holocene rate (~2cm 1000year−1). Therefore, modern sea-ice rafting represents a substantial fraction of the total Arctic Ocean sediment budget.

Subglacial hydrology is investigated for an ice sheet where the substrate consists of a deformable aquifer resting on an aquitard. If sliding velocities are low or absent, subglacial melt-water drainage is dominated by drainage through the aquifer to water channels. Drainage along the bed is negligible. Efficient melt-water drainage requires that a system of subglacial water channels exists; otherwise, pore-water pressures will exceed the overburden pressure. In general, aquifer deformation near (away from) the terminus is most likely to occur during the winter (summer). The effect of short-term high channel pressures is, in general, not critical to aquifer deformation because the pressure pulse does not propagate far into the aquifer. (For aquifers of high permeability, short periods of high channel pressures constitute the most critical condition.) Aquifer deformation at the terminus is very likely to occur if the terminus ice slope exceeds tan ϕ, where ϕ is the Coulomb friction angle of the aquifer material. Upwelling of basal melt water near the terminus will normally cause soil dilation if the aquifer has a low permeability (e.g. till). Maximal profiles are computed corresponding to various aquifer materials using channel spacings which provide efficient drainage. (A maximal profile is the highest ice profile which the aquifer can sustain without deformation.) In general, maximal profiles lie well above observed profiles (such as h(x) = 3x1/2 (m)) except near the terminus. However, if channel spacings are sufficiently large, pore-water pressures are increased and maximal profiles can lie well below h(x) = 3x1/2.

Two types of basal till are described. First, melt-out tills released by the melting of masses of buried, debris-rich stagnant ice. Top melting of these ice masses is of greatest importance at the present day, and this produces tills which retain some of their englacial fabrics although some are changed by the melting process. Bottom melting of these masses could also produce such tills but these are likely to be much less important. Secondly, tills are also formed subglacially when basal debris-rich glacier ice becomes stationary beneath the over-riding active glacier. When these subglacial masses melt, water is expelled from the resultant till which also shows tectonic shear fractures induced by the over-riding ice. The mode of deposition of these latter tills could also be responsible for the production of certain rock-cored drumlins. Subglacial tills in Svalbard are relatively rare and, except under special conditions, are likely to react to ice loading by water expulsion, compaction and shear fracture rather than by fluid flow.

If a basal freezing hypothesis is accepted for the origin of most englacial debris, the lateral and vertical variations in erratic content can be predicted for many melt-out tills.

Digital airborne radar data were collected during the 1987-88 Antarctic field season in nine gridded blocks covering the downstream portions of Ice Stream B (6km spacing) and Ice Stream C (11 km spacing), together with a portion of ridge BC between them. An automated processing procedure was used for picking onset times of the reflected radar pulses, converting travel times to distances, interpolating missing data, converting pressure transducer readings, correcting navigational drift, performing crossover analysis, and zeroing rémanent crossover errors. Interpolation between flight-lines was carried out using the minimum curvature method.

Maps of ice thickness (estimated accuracy 20 m) and basal-reflection strength (estimated accuracy 1 dB) were produced. The ice-thickness map confirms the characteristics of previous reconnaissance maps and reveals no new features. The reflection-strength map shows pronounced contrasts between the ice streams and ridge BC and between the two ice streams themselves. We interpret the reflection strengths to mean that the bed of Ice Stream C, as well as that of Ice Stream B, is unfrozen, that the bed of ridge BC is frozen and that the boundary between the frozen bed of ridge BC and the unfrozen bed of Ice Stream C lies precisely below the former shear margin of the ice stream.

Ice-sheet mass-balance estimates derived from repeat satellite-altimetry observations require accurate calculation of spatiotemporal variability in firn-air content (FAC). However, firn-compaction models remain a large source of uncertainty within mass-balance estimates. In this study, we investigate one process that is neglected in FAC estimates derived from firn-compaction models: enhanced layer thinning due to horizontal divergence. We incorporate a layer-thinning scheme into the Community Firn Model. At every time step, firn layers first densify according to a firn-compaction model and then thin further due to an imposed horizontal divergence rate without additional density changes. We find that horizontal divergence on Thwaites (THW) and Pine Island Glaciers can reduce local FAC by up to 41% and 18%, respectively. We also assess the impact of temporal variability of horizontal divergence on FAC. We find a 15% decrease in FAC between 2007 and 2016 due to horizontal divergence at a location that is characteristic of lower THW. This decrease accounts for 16% of the observed surface lowering, whereas climate variability alone causes negligible changes in FAC at this location. Omitting transient horizontal divergence in estimates of FAC leads to an overestimation of ice loss via satellite-altimetry methods in regions of dynamic ice flow.

Flow-frictional resistance at the base of glaciers and ice sheets is strongly linked to subglacial water pressure. Understanding the physical mechanisms that govern meltwater fluxes in subglacial channels is hence critical for constraining variations in ice flow. Previous mathematical descriptions of soft-bed subglacial channels assume a viscous till rheology, which is inconsistent with laboratory data and the majority of field studies. Here, we use a grain-scale numerical formulation coupled to pore-water dynamics to analyze the structural stability of channels carved into soft beds. Contrary to the soft-bed channel models assuming viscous till rheology, we show that the flanks of till channels can support substantial ice loads without creep closure of the channel, because the sediment has finite frictional strength. Increased normal stress on the channel flanks causes plastic failure of the sediment, and the channel rapidly shrinks to increase the ice-bed contact area. We derive a new parameterization for subglacial channelized flow on soft beds and show that channel dynamics are dominated by fluvial erosion and deposition processes with thresholds linked to the plastic rheology of subglacial tills. We infer that the described limits to channel size may cause subglacial drainage to arrange in networks of multiple closely spaced channels.

Geothermal heat flux (GHF) is an important control on the dynamics of Antarctica's ice sheet because it controls basal melt and internal deformation. However, it is hard to estimate because of a lack of in-situ measurements. Estimating GHF from ice-borehole temperature profiles is possible by combining a heat-transfer equation and the physical properties of the ice sheet in a numerical model. In this study, we truncate ice-borehole temperature profiles to determine the minimum ratio of temperature profile depth to ice-sheet thickness required to produce acceptable GHF estimations. For Law Dome, a temperature profile that is within 60% of the local ice thickness is sufficient for an estimation that is within approximately one median absolute deviation of the whole-profile GHF estimation. This result is compared with the temperature profiles at Dome Fuji and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet divide which require a temperature profile that is 80% and more than 91% of the ice thickness, respectively, for comparable accuracy. In deriving GHF median estimations from truncated temperature profiles, it is possible to discriminate between available GHF models. This is valuable for assessing and constraining future GHF models.

Annual and seasonal surface velocities measured continuously from 1960 to 1970 at White Glacier, a 14 km long polythermal valley glacier spanning ~100–1800 m a.s.l., provide the most comprehensive early record of ice dynamics in the Canadian Arctic. Through comparison with differential GPS-derived velocity data spanning 2012–16, we find reductions in mean annual velocity by 31 and 38% at lower elevations (600 and 400 m a.s.l.). These are associated with decreased internal ice deformation due to ice thinning and reduced basal motion likely due to increased hydraulic efficiency in recent years. At higher elevation (~850 m a.s.l.) there is no detectable change in annual velocity and the expected decrease in internal deformation rates due to ice thinning is offset by increased basal motion in both summer and winter, likely attributable to supraglacial melt accessing a still inefficient subglacial drainage system. Decreases in mass flux at lower elevations since the 1960s cannot explain the observed elevation loss of ~20 m, meaning that ice thinning along the glacier trunk is primarily a function of downwasting rather than changing ice dynamics. The current response of the glacier exemplifies steady thinning, velocity slowdown and upstream retreat of the ELA but, because the glacier has an unstable geometry with considerable mass in the 1300–1500 m elevation range, a retreat of the ELA to >1300 plausible within 25–40 years, could trigger runaway wastage.

We have investigated the formation of 10-50 mm long ice spikes that sometimes appear on the free surface of water when it solidifies. By freezing water under different conditions, we measured the probability of ice-spike formation as a function of: (1) the air temperature in the freezing chamber, (2) air motion in the freezing chamber (which promotes evaporative cooling), (3) the quantity of dissolved salts in the water, and (4) the size, shape and composing material of the freezing vessel. We found that the probability of ice-spike formation is greatest when the air temperature is near -7°C, the water is pure and the air in the freezing chamber is moving. Even small quantities of dissolved solids greatly reduce the probability of ice-spike formation. Under optimal conditions, approximately half the ice cubes in an ordinary ice-cube tray will form ice spikes. Guided by these observations, we have examined the Bally-Dorsey model for the formation of ice spikes. In this model, the density change during solidification forces super cooled water up through a hollow ice tube, where it freezes around the rim to lengthen the tube. We propose that any dissolved solids in the water will tend to concentrate at the tip of a growing ice spike and inhibit its growth. This can qualitatively explain the observation that ice spikes do not readily form using water containing even small quantities of dissolved solids.

Sequential satellite imagery and modeling are used to investigate crevasse patterns at the head of Ice Stream B tributary B1b. The crevasses, informally called the “chromosomes”, form at the upstream limit to B1b’s northern shear margin and chaotic crevasse zone. We find that the onset to crevasse formation, and by inference the onset to streaming flow, has migrated upstream over time at a mean rate of 230(16) m a−1. A possible cause for that migration is changes in net basal friction due to changes in basal water production rate and storage.

A rigid mast, equipped with five multi-turn potentiometers, was bolted to the bedrock floor of a frontal cavity at Glacier de Tsanfleuron, Switzerland. Each potentiometer was linked by a thin cord to an anchor emplaced in the adjacent ice wall, enabling basal ice motion to be measured continually over a 6 day period in the late summer. Results indicate that basal ice velocity increased quasi-linearly away from the glacier bed, rising from 10.66 to 11.82 mm d−1 between 25 and ∼ 265 mm above the ice– bed interface. Extrapolation of this gradient indicates that ∼ 10.55 mm d−1 may have been accommodated by pure slip between the ice and the glacier bed. Basal ice motion is temporally variable, generally being characterized by tens of minutes to hours of little or no motion interspersed with rapid-motion “events” lasting for between < 120 s (a single measurement interval) and 360 s. These motion events were responsible for speeds of up to > 400 mm d−1 over individual measurement intervals. The magnitude–frequency distribution of these events is consistent with a pattern of infrequent and large “slips” initiated at the ice–bed interface, that are manifested as more frequent and smaller motion events some tens of cm above that interface.

The deformation, resulting from a surge in 1985, of Glaciar Horcones Inferior is analyzed using structural geological models. During the surge, previously continuous debris cover was deformed by the formation of regularly separated and rotated ice blocks, suggesting a system of linked rotational extensional faults. Block tilting was measured from photographs taken shortly after the surge, showing rotation of the debris-covered surface. Fault inclination was assumed to be coincident with the debris-free side of the block. Glacier advance during the surge was obtained by comparing pre-surge aerial photographs with the position of maximum advance after the surge. Glacier thinning was estimated from the debris surface average lowering (relief generated at lateral scarps coincident with shear zones) and ice thickness measurements after surge termination. Three independent sets of information, geometry of the deformation (i.e. depth of detachment, fault traces, fault spacing, block rotation), glacier thinning and net advance, limit possible interpretations. Surface geometry suggests a domino-style or a linked planar rotational extensional fault system. In the observed configuration, however, these models can only explain a 12–13% extension. Glacier thinning suggests 30% local extension, and total glacier advance implies 16% minimum extension, which does not account for some frontal compression, as observed. A linked curved rotational extensional fault model fits the data well, implying a significant degree of internal deformation within each block. This model satisfactorily explains the observed deformation produced by the surge. It may also explain some modes of fast glacier flow, since the observed style of block tilting is present in other glaciers with high relief.

The spatio-temporal distribution of air temperature over mountain glaciers can demonstrate complex patterns, yet it is often represented simplistically using linear vertical temperature gradients (VTGs) extrapolated from off-glacier locations. We analyse a network of centreline and lateral air temperature observations at Tsanteleina Glacier, Italy, during summer 2015. On average, VTGs are steep (<−0.0065 °C m−1), but they are shallow under warm ambient conditions when the correlation between air temperature and elevation becomes weaker. Published along-flowline temperature distribution methods explain centreline observations well, including warming on the lower glacier tongue, but cannot estimate lateral temperature variability. Application of temperature distribution methods improves simulation of melt rates (RMSE) in an energy-balance model by up to 36% compared to the environmental lapse rate extrapolated from an off-glacier station. However, results suggest that model parameters are not easily transferable to glaciers with a small fetch without recalibration. Such methods have potential to improve estimates of temperature across a glacier, but their parameter transferability should be further linked to the glacier and atmospheric characteristics. Furthermore, ‘cold spots’, which can be >2°C cooler than expected for their elevation, whose occurrence is not predicted by the temperature distribution models, are identified at one-quarter of the measurement sites.

The coastal Droning Maud Land in East Antarctica is characterized by small ice shelves with numbers of promontories and locally grounded isles, both called ice rises. These ice rises are typically dome-shaped and surface elevations are hundreds of meters above the surrounding ice shelves, which cause strong orographic effects on surface mass balance (SMB). We conducted shallow ice-penetrating radar sounding to visualize firn stratigraphy in the top 35 m over ~400 km of profiles across the Nivlisen Ice Shelf, and in a grid pattern over two adjacent ice rises (Djupranen and Leningradkollen). We tracked six reflectors (isochrones) and dated them using two ice cores taken at the ice rise summits, from which SMB over six periods in the past three decades was retrieved. The overall SMB pattern across the ice shelf remained similar for all periods; however, the eastwest contrast in SMB varies by a factor of 1.5–2 between the Leningradkollen and Djupranen grounding lines. The SMB patterns over the ice rises are more varied owing to complex interactions between topography, snowfall and wind. We use our results to evaluate the regional climate model RACMO2.3p2 in terms of the spatial SMB distribution and temporal changes over the ice shelf and ice rises at regional scale.

Bulk directional enhancement factors are determined for axisymmetric (girdle and single-maximum) orientation fabrics using a transversely isotropic grain rheology with an orientation-dependent non-linear grain fluidity. Compared to grain fluidities that are simplified as orientation independent, we find that bulk strain-rate enhancements for intermediate-to-strong axisymmetric fabrics can be up to a factor of ten larger, assuming stress homogenization over the polycrystal scale. Our work thus extends previous results based on simple basal slip (Schmid) grain rheologies to the transversely isotropic rheology, which has implications for large-scale anisotropic ice-flow modelling that relies on a transversely isotropic grain rheology. In order to derive bulk enhancement factors for arbitrary evolving fabrics, we expand the c-axis distribution in terms of a spherical harmonic series, which allows the rheology-required structure tensors through order eight to easily be calculated and provides an alternative to current structure-tensor-based modelling.