Proceedings of a Workshop on Antarctic Meteorite Stranding Surfaces

The discovery of large numbers of meteorites on the Antarctic Ice Sheet is one of the most exciting developments in polar science in recent years. The meteorites are found on areas of ice called stranding surfaces. Because of the sudden availability of hundreds, and then thousands, of new meteorite specimens at these sites, the significance of the discovery of meteorite stranding surfaces in Antarctica had an immediate and profound impact on planetary science, but there is also in this discovery an enormous, largely unrealized potential to glaciology for records of climatic and ice sheet changes. The glaciological interest derives from the antiquity of the ice in meteorite stranding surfaces. This exposed ice covers a range of ages, probably between zero and more than 500,000 years. The Workshop on Antarctic Meteorite Stranding Surfaces was convened to explore this potential and to devise a course of action that could be recommended to granting agencies. The workshop recognized three prime functions of meteorite stranding surfaces. They provide: (1) A proxy record of climatic change (i.e., a long record of climatic change is probably preserved in the exposed ice stratigraphy); (2) A proxy record of ice volume change; and (3) A source of unique nonterrestrial material

Patterns of calculated basal drag on ice streams B and C, Antarctica

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

The role of lateral drag in the dynamics of Ice Stream B, Antarctica

The partitioning of resistive force between the bed and sides of Ice Stream B, Antarctica , is obtained for three large areas that have bee n measured using repeat aerial photogrammetry. Problems associated with data errors and local variations in ice strength and velocity are reduced by considering the a really ave raged budget of forces for each photo block. Results indicate that the bed under Ice Stream B must be very weak and unable to provide much res instance. Mechanical l control on this ice stream emanates almost entirely from the lateral margins

Flow laws for glacier ice: comparison of numerical predictions and field measurements

This is the published version, also available here: http://dx.doi.org/10.3189/002214390793701372.Ice flow along the 20 km long strain network up-stream of the Dye 3 bore hole in Greenland is studied in detail. By solving the force—balance equations and using selected flow laws, stresses and strain-rates are calculated throughout the section of the ice sheet. The validity of the results is evaluated by comparison with the velocity profile derived from bore-hole-tilting measurements, and with observed surface strain-rates. A number of constitutive relations are tried and most predict a velocity profile at the bore-hole site that is in good agreement with that observed, if appropriate enhancement factors are used. However, there are major discrepancies between modeled and measured surface strain-rates. Use of Nye's generalization of Glen's flow law, or an anisotropic constitutive relation, requires unrealistically large along-flow variations in the enhancement factor. Inclusion of normal stress effects can lead to much better agreement, but it is possible that other processes, such as dynamic recrystallization or primary creep, should be included in the constitutive relation of polar ice

Force Budget: II. Application to Two-Dimensional Flow Along Byrd Station Strain Network, Antarctica

This is the published version, also available here: http://dx.doi.org/10.3189/002214389793701455.Resistive stresses and velocities at depth are calculated along the Byrd Station Strain Network, Antarctica, using field data. There are found to be large longitudinal variations in basal drag and this result is little affected by errors in the input data or by uncertainties in the constitutive relation for ice. Basal drag varies by a factor of about 2 along the strain network, and is usually equal to the driving stress to within 10–20%. Sites of high drag are not always correlated with basal topographic highs, indicating that some process such as basal water drainage is involved in controlling the friction at the bed. Basal sliding velocities are very sensitive to errors in measured surface velocities and the rate factor in Glen's flow law. As a result, calculated sliding velocities are much less reliable than deep stresses, and need to be interpreted with caution

Force budget: I. Theory and numerical methods

This is the published version, also available here: http://dx.doi.org/10.3189/002214389793701581.A practical method is developed for calculating stresses and velocities at depth using field measurements of the geometry and surface velocity of glaciers. To do this, it is convenient to partition full stresses into lithostatic and resistive components. The horizontal gradient in vertically integrated lithostatic stress is the driving stress and it describes the horizontal action of gravity. The horizontal resistive stress gradients describe the reactions. Resistive stresses are simply related to deviatoric stresses and hence to strain-rates through a constitutive relation. A numerical scheme can be used to calculate stresses and velocities from surface velocities and slope, and from ice thickness. There is no mathematical requirement that the variations in these quantities be small

New and improved determinations of velocity of ice streams B and C, West Antarctica

This is the publisher's version, copyright by the International Glaciological Society.Measurements of velocity have been made on and next to Ice Streams B and C, West Antarctica. The results are more precise than previous work and constitute a 93% increase in the number of values. These velocities are used to describe the confluence of flow into the ice streams and the development of fast icestream flow. The onset of fast-streaming flow occurs in many separate tributaries that coalesce down-glacier into the major ice streams. For those inter-stream ridges that have been studied, the flow is consistent with steady state. Along Ice Stream B, gradients in longitudinal stress offer little resistance to the ice flow. The transition from basal-drag control to ice-shelf flow is achieved through reduced drag at the glacier base and increased resistance associated with lateral drag. Velocities in the trunk of Ice Stream C are nearly zero but those at the up-glacial head are similar to those at the head of Ice Stream B

Determination of a flow center on an ice cap

This is the published version.A method for identifying the center of ice flow is developed and applied using results from surveys of a strain grid near the summit of Dunde Ice Cap (central China). Strain rates are used to compute stresses. These are used with a consideration of the balance of forces to compute basal friction. The flow center at the bed occurs where this friction changes sign. For Dunde Ice Cap, the basal flow center nearly underlies the summit

Reply to Lliboutry's letter 'Why calculated basal drags of ice streams can be fallacious'

This is the publisher's version, copyright by the International Glaciological Society.No abstract is available for this item

Force budget: III, Application to three-dimensional flow of Byrd Glacier, Antarctica

This is the published version, also available here: http://dx.doi.org/10.3189/002214389793701554.Stresses at the surface and at depth are calculated for a stretch of Byrd Glacier, Antarctica. The calculations are based on photogrammetrically determined velocities and elevations, and on radio-echo-determined ice thicknesses. The results are maps of drags from each valley wall, of normal forces laterally and longitudinally. and of basal drag. Special challenges in the calculation are the numerical gridding of velocity, ensuring that unreasonable short-wavelength features do not develop in the calculation, and inference of ice thickness where there are no data. The results show important variations in basal drag. For the floating part, basal drag is near zero, as expected. Within the grounded part. longitudinal components of basal drag are very variable, reaching 300 kPa with a dominant wavelength of 13 km. Generally. these drag maxima correlate with maxima in driving stress. Usually the across-glacier component of basal drag is small. An important exception occurs in the center of the grounded part of the glacier where the flow shows major deviations from the axis of the valley. Other results are that side drag is roughly constant at 250 kPa along both margins of the glacier, tension from the ice shelf is about 100 kPa, and tension in the grounded part cycles between 250 and 150 kPa. Calculated deep velocities are too large and this is attributed to deficiencies in the conventional isotropic flow law used