Subsurface Radar Investigations at the Pegasus Glacial-Ice Runway and Williams Field, McMurdo Station, Antarctica.

• Main Authors: Arcone, Steven A., Delaney, Allan J., Toblasson, Wayne
• Other Authors: COLD REGIONS RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING LAB HANOVER NH
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1994
• Subjects: Terminal Flight Facilities; Snow; Ice and Permafrost; Active & Passive Radar Detection & Equipment; Solid Wastes Pollution and Control; *ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT; *BIOLOGICAL CONTAMINATION; *RADAR EQUIPMENT; *SOLID WASTES; *RUNWAYS; *LAND ICE; *SEWAGE DISPOSAL; SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION; WAVEFORMS; FIELD TESTS; REFLECTION; DEPTH; FUELS; DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES; ANTENNAS; MIGRATION; LOW DENSITY; BURIED OBJECTS; WASTE DISPOSAL; SITE INVESTIGATIONS; POLARITY; EXCAVATION; SUBSURFACE; INTRUSION; SPILLING; ANTARCTIC REGIONS; SUMPS; BRINES; ROSS SEA; GLACIAL GEOLOGY; MCMURDO SOUND (ANTARCTICA); SUBSURFACE RADAR; Antarctic; Ross Sea; McMurdo Sound; Ross Ice Shelf; McMurdo Station; Ice Runway; Williams Field; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice; Ice Shelf; permafrost
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA289323; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA289323

Subsurface radar was used to profile ice and snow conditions on the Ross Ice Shelf at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, during mid-January 1993. Deconvolution and migration were often used to improve vertical resolution and spatial imaging. Profiles at a pulse center frequency of 400 MHz along the 3.2-km-long Pegasus ice runway show many low-density horizons above 9 m depth that are up to 30 m long. They are associated with air bubbles included during refreezing of meltwater and are interpreted as layers between a few and tens of centimeters thick. There is a strong reflecting horizon at about 9 m depth that is probably from brine intrusion as it is continuous with the intrusion into the snow to the east. Diffraction asymptotes give a dielectric constant near 3.2 for material above the brine level, a value that implies near-solid ice. Profiles at 100 MHz along the road between Pegasus runway and Williams Field in the accumulation zone show snow features such as layer deformation and intrusive brine layers that both abruptly and gradually change in depth. A single profile at a relic solid waste dump at Williams Field detected buried debris and ice within the upper 7 m. A survey of a suspected fuel spill shows some local disturbances near the center, but no excavation was done to verify the findings. Profiles traversing the sewage sumps at Williams Field outline the extent of the sewage deposition, and give depths to contaminated snow that closely agree with observation. Despite variability in dielectric properties, single-layer migration effectively improves the resolution of subsurface conditions. Recommendations are made for future surveys.