Core Drilling Through the Ross Ice Shelf (Antarctica) Confirmed Basal Freezing

• Published in: Science
• Main Authors: Zotikov, Igor A., Zagorodnov, Victor S., Raikovsky, Juriy V.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 1980
• Subjects: Ross Ice Shelf; Antarc*; Antarctica; ice core; Ice Shelf; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.207.4438.1463; https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.207.4438.1463

New techniques that have been used to obtain a continuous ice core through the whole 416-meter thickness of the Ross Ice Shelf at Camp J-9 have demonstrated that the bottom 6 meters of the ice shelf consists of sea ice. The rate of basal freezing that is forming this ice is estimated by different methods to be 2 centimeters of ice per year. The sea ice is composed of large vertical crystals, which form the waffle-like lower boundary of the shelf. A distinct alignment of the crystals throughout the sea ice layer suggests the presence of persistent long-term currents beneath the ice shelf.