Erebus Glacier Tongue, Mcmurdo Sound, Antarctica

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Author: Holdsworth, G.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1974
• Subjects: Erebus Glacier; Erebus Glacier Tongue; McMurdo Sound; Antarc*; Antarctica; Journal of Glaciology
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000023340; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000023340

Examination of the past and present behaviour of the Erebus Glacier tongue over the last 60 years indicates that a major calving from the tongue appears to be imminent. Calculations of the regime of the tongue indicate that bottom melt rates may exceed 1 m a −1 . By successive mapping of the ice tongue between the years 1947 and 1970, longitudinal strain-rates were determined using the change in distance between a set of 15 teeth, which are a prominent marginal feature of the tongue. Assuming a flow law for ice of the form where τ is the effective shear stress and is the effective shear strain-rate, values of the exponent n = 3 and B = 1 × 10 8 N m −2 are determined. These are in fair agreement with published values.