Summary A detailed knowledge of the flow dynamics of the ice sheet above the World’s largest and most outstanding subglacial lake, Lake Vostok, is crucial for the understanding of the hydrological, limnological and sedimentation processes in this water cavity. Furthermore, the specific conditions of...
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.507.9555 http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1047/ea/of2007-1047ea172.pdf |
| Summary: | Summary A detailed knowledge of the flow dynamics of the ice sheet above the World’s largest and most outstanding subglacial lake, Lake Vostok, is crucial for the understanding of the hydrological, limnological and sedimentation processes in this water cavity. Furthermore, the specific conditions of the floating ice sheet obeying the hydrostatic equilibrium provide a unique opportunity for the determination of height changes and the present-day mass balance of the ice sheet. In the Antarctic field season 2001/2002, geodetic GPS markers were installed in and around Vostok station and first GPS observations were carried out. In the subsequent field season, these observations were repeated for the first time. During the field season 2006/2007, these markers have been observed for the third time by GPS. These repeated in-situ measurements provide the basis for the precise determination of the local flow direction and velocity of the ice sheet, as well as height change rates in a global reference frame. A strain analysis of the changes of the internal geometry between the markers yields the quantification of the convergence/divergence and acceleration of the ice flow around Vostok station. Here, we combine the geometrical marker displacements determined by geodetic means with precise ice thickness data based on ground-based radar-echo sounding and representative surface accumulation rates in order to conclude the mass balance state of both the floating ice sheet |
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