Liquid brine in ice shelves

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Author: Thomas, R.H.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: International Glaciological Society 1975
• Subjects: Brunt Ice Shelf; Ice Shelf; Ice Shelves; Journal of Glaciology
• Online Access: http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/525872/; https://doi.org/10.3189/S0022143000013459

Holes drilled into thin areas of the Brunt Ice Shelf encounter a layer of liquid brine less than 1 m thick approximately at sea-level. Assuming the brine to be moving horizontally, analysis of its effects on thermal equilibrium gives an estimate of steady-state annual brine flow that is in good agreement with the value deduced from a percolation model. The effect of firn density on percolation rates is such that the slope of an active brine layer increases rapidly as ice thickness increases. However, the heat transport model predicts that brine layers are unlikely to be active in both very thick and very thin ice shelves.