Pleistocene Ice at the Base of The Barnes Ice Cap, Baffin Island, N.W.T., Canada
Abstract Oxygen-isotope ratios indicate that a distinctive band of white ice along the margin of the Barnes Ice Cap is of Pleistocene age. It is estimated freom a flow mogerl that beneath the center of the ice cap the thickness of the band shuuld be abont 0.6 times its thickness at the margin, or ab...
Published in: | Journal of Glaciology |
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Main Author: | |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1976
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000030719 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000030719 |
Summary: | Abstract Oxygen-isotope ratios indicate that a distinctive band of white ice along the margin of the Barnes Ice Cap is of Pleistocene age. It is estimated freom a flow mogerl that beneath the center of the ice cap the thickness of the band shuuld be abont 0.6 times its thickness at the margin, or about 8 m. However, an ingerpengernt estimate, based on calculated vertical strain-rates and explicitly assuming no basal melting, predicts a thickness of about 22 m beneath the center of the ice cap. The discrepancy between the two thickness estimates is interpreted as indicating that basal melting has occurred. Calculated basal temperatures support this conclusion. |
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