TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION CALCULATING BASAL TEMPERATURES IN ICE SHEETS: AN EXCEL SPREADSHEET METHOD

The flow of ice sheets and their geomorphological impact is greatly influenced by their basal thermal regime. Calculations of basal temperatures in ice sheets are therefore fundamental in evaluating glacier dynamics and in determining the spatial distribution of zones of erosion and deposition benea...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Neil F. Glasser, Martin, J. Siegert
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 2001
Subjects:
KEY WORDS
ice sheets
basal thermal regime
spreadsheet
Scotland
Antarctica
Antarctic
Antarc*
Ice Sheet
Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.574.9078
http://www.cpom.org/research/mjs-espl.pdf
Description
Summary:The flow of ice sheets and their geomorphological impact is greatly influenced by their basal thermal regime. Calculations of basal temperatures in ice sheets are therefore fundamental in evaluating glacier dynamics and in determining the spatial distribution of zones of erosion and deposition beneath ice masses. Calculations of basal temperatures are not frequently attempted, however, primarily because of the techniques required to solve the heat conduction equation between the ice surface and the base. This paper describes a new Excel spreadsheet method of solving this equation that can readily be applied to both former and contemporary ice sheets. The application of the spreadsheet is illustrated with two examples. The first provides a calculation of basal thermal regime beneath the north eastern part of the Scottish ice sheet during the last glacial maximum; the second shows how basal ice temperatures can be calculated beneath the modern Antarctic

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