Measurement of the Slip of a Glacier Past its Side Wall

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Author: Glen, J. W.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1958
• Subjects: Earth-Surface Processes; Journal of Glaciology
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000024230; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000024230

Abstract The velocity of flow of a glacier was measured at two places where the ice margin had no moraine debris between clear ice and unfragmented rock. In one of these places the point at which the measurement was made was only about 1 m. from the solid rock. It was found that at both sites the ice was flowing past the rock at a velocity of the same order of magnitude as the velocity of flow in the centre of the glacier in this region. Although conditions at the side of a glacier are not the same as at the bed, this large amount of slip is evidence for a high rate of slip all along the ice-rock interface, and this is in accordance with current ideas of the flow of ice below ice falls.