Rapid and accurate polarimetric radar measurements of ice crystal fabric orientation at the Western Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide ice core site ...
The crystal orientation fabric (COF) of ice sheets records the past history of ice sheet deformation and influences present-day ice flow dynamics. Though not widely implemented, coherent ice-penetrating radar is able to detect bulk anisotropic fabric patterns by exploiting the birefringence of ice c...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.17863/cam.72780 https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/325324 |
| Summary: | The crystal orientation fabric (COF) of ice sheets records the past history of ice sheet deformation and influences present-day ice flow dynamics. Though not widely implemented, coherent ice-penetrating radar is able to detect bulk anisotropic fabric patterns by exploiting the birefringence of ice crystals at radar frequencies, with the assumption that one of the crystallographic axes is aligned in the vertical direction. In this study, we conduct a suite of quad-polarimetric measurements consisting of four orthogonal antenna orientation combinations near the Western Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide Ice Core site. From these measurements, we are able to quantify the azimuthal fabric asymmetry at this site to a depth of 1400 m at a bulk-averaged resolution of up to 15 m. Our estimates of fabric asymmetry closely match corresponding fabric estimates directly measured from the WAIS Divide Ice Core. While ice core studies are often unable to determine the absolute fabric orientation due to core rotation during ... |
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