In situ measurements of snow accumulation in the Amundsen Sea Embayment during 2016

• Main Author: Johnson, Joanne
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Polar Data Centre, Natural Environment Research Council, UK 2018
• Subjects: "EARTH SCIENCE","CRYOSPHERE","GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS","ABLATION ZONES/ACCUMULATION ZONES"; "EARTH SCIENCE","CRYOSPHERE","GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS","GLACIERS"; "EARTH SCIENCE","CRYOSPHERE","GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS","ICE SHEETS"; West Antarctica; Amundsen Sea; Pine Island Glacier; Thwaites Glacier; Haynes Glacier; Antarc*; Antarctica; Pine Island
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5285/3fe799e0-97ec-4b01-b6df-325b8b31baac; https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01057

This dataset contains measurements of snow accumulation over an 11-month period in 2016 at six sites in the Pine Island-Thwaites Glacier catchment of West Antarctica. The sites were visited on two occasions, the first in January 2016 and the second in December 2016. The accumulation rate at each site was calculated using an average density profile, based on a compilation of six low elevation sites on Pine Island Glacier (iSTAR sites 15-19, and 22; Morris et al., 2017) that are situated nearby. The average density for the top metre based on this compilation is 419 kg m-3. Further details are provided in the associated publication. : The purpose of site visits was to service seismic stations of the UKANET seismic network near Pine Island Glacier, and to locate and raise equipment depoted in January 2016 at Mt Murphy (on the western margin of the Thwaites-Haynes Glacier catchment). The seismic stations are powered by solar energy during the summer. At installation, the heights of the solar panels above the snow surface were recorded using a tape measure. Servicing entailed raising the seismometer back toward the surface via vertical shafts dug with shovels. By repeating the measurement of the solar panel height above (or below, following complete burial) the snow surface, the total depth of snow that had fallen during the period of approximately 11 months between initial deployment and servicing was determined. The equipment depoted at Mt Murphy in early 2016 became completely buried by snow during the subsequent 11 months. The green tarpaulin covering the depot was eventually located by digging a vertical shaft through which the snow depth to the base of the depot was measured. Further details are provided in the associated publication. : The measurement uncertainty is no more than 10 cm. The time period over which the measurements were collected is short, thus uncertainties related to internal ice deformation, glacier flow and drift are likely to be minimal.