A sketch on ice sheet dynamics near the Schirmacher Oasis, Dronning Maud Land, based on a multidisciplinary data fund
The part of the East Antarctic lce Sheet under investigation (from the edge of the ice shelf at 70°S/12°E up to the Wohlthat Massif between 11°30'E/71°30'S and 13°30E/71°20'S) can be subdivided into two large ice bodies: 1. The up to 80 km wide Novolazarevskaya lce Shelf 2. The margin...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Conference Object |
| Language: | unknown |
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The International Glaciological Society
1993
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| Online Access: | https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/48969/ https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.436c7019-c300-4edb-b3c1-0d753c0076a7 |
| Summary: | The part of the East Antarctic lce Sheet under investigation (from the edge of the ice shelf at 70°S/12°E up to the Wohlthat Massif between 11°30'E/71°30'S and 13°30E/71°20'S) can be subdivided into two large ice bodies: 1. The up to 80 km wide Novolazarevskaya lce Shelf 2. The marginal zone of the Inland ice sheet between the grounding line and Wohlthat Massif (Gruber Mts., Humboldt Mts.). A remarkable difference to the most common situation in the marginal zone of East Antarctica consists in the existence of a circumpolar striking mountain chain which on one hand hinders the drainage of the Wegener Plateau and focuses the drainage to some outlet glaciers and on the other hand acts as a natural archive preserving traces and relics of former glacio-climatic regimes of the area. The investigations have until now been concentrated on three traverses, both on the ice shelf and the Inland ice up to the Wohlthat Massif. Based on repeated geodetic surveys (terrestrial and GPS measurements) the surface geometry as weil as horizontal and vertical velocities were determined. Additionally, the ice thickness (by EMR}, accumulation and ablation were measured along the traverses. The surface velocity field was deduced from information on bedrock topography and ice thickness combined with geodetic velocity profiles and satellite images. Isotope studies on the ice in the above mentioned area have shown locations with relictic Pleistocene ice on or near the surface of the recent ice cover. A compilation of all results leads to a preliminary stratigraphic scheme of the regional ice sheet margin and to a first guess at the area of origin and flow history of the old ice. The findings indicate a special glacioclimatic regime with high sensitivity, so that the area is especially predestinated also for investigations on recent changes of the ice cover. |
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