Flow in a Transverse Section of Athabasca Glacier, Alberta, Canada

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Author: Raymond, C.F.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1971
• Subjects: Journal of Glaciology
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000012995; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000012995

Measurements of ice deformation at the surface and at depth in the Athabasca Glacier, Canada, reveal for the first time the pattern of flow in a nearly complete cross-section of a valley glacier, and make it possible to test the applicability of experimental and theoretical concepts in the analysis of glacier flow. Tilting in nine bore holes (eight holes essentially to the bottom at depth about 300 m) was measured with a newly developed electrical inclinometer. The new instrument permitted bore-hole configurations to be determined with greater speed and accuracy than possible with earlier methods. The measurements define the distribution of the velocity vector and the strain-rate tensor over about 70% of the area of the glacier cross-section. The main longitudinal component of flow has the following general features: (1) basal sliding velocity which exceeds 70% of the surface velocity over half of the width of the glacier, (2) marginal sliding velocity (not more than a few meters per year) much less than basal sliding velocity at the center-line (about 40 m a -1 ), (3) marginal shear strain-rate near the valley walls two to three times larger than the basal shear strain-rate near the center-line (0.1 a -1 ). The observed longitudinal flow is significantly different from that expected from theoretical analysis of flow in cylindrical channels (Nye, 1965). The relative strength of marginal and basal shear strain-rate is opposite to that expected from theory. In addition, the longitudinal flow velocity averaged over the glacier cross-section (which determines the flux of ice transported) is larger by 12% than the average flow velocity seen at the glacier surface, whereas it would be essentially the same if the theoretical prediction were correct. These differences are caused to a large extent by the contrast between the actual distribution of sliding velocity and the constant sliding velocity for which the theoretical analysis holds. The observed relation between marginal and basal sliding velocity is probably a ...