The Contact of the Ross Ice Shelf with the Continental Ice Sheet, Antarctica

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Authors: Thiel, Edward, Ostenso, Ned A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1961
• Subjects: Earth-Surface Processes; Ross Ice Shelf; Byrd; Marie Byrd Land; Byrd Station; Little America; Little America V; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice Sheet; Ice Shelf; Journal of Glaciology
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000027192; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000027192

Abstract A profile of ice thickness along the 647 mile trail from Little America V to Byrd Station has been obtained from altimetric, seismic, and gravity measurements, and detailed studies made at the junction of the Ross Ice Shelf and the Marie Byrd Land plateau. The surface elevation profile clearly shows the depression characteristic of this contact. The thickness of the floating ice shelf has been determined from the elevations assuming hydrostatic equilibrium; for this purpose the accurately known density-depth relationship obtained from a deep borehole at Little America V was employed. The buried rock topography at the contact has been deduced from a seismic sounding and variations in the gravity anomaly. Movement studies over a 22 month period are presented, and the crevasse pattern of the contact is analyzed in terms of ice movement. Suggestions are given for traversing the region by vehicle.