Glaciology Commons^™

Photonic Non-Destructive Measurement Methods For Investigating The Evolution Of Polar Firn And Ice, Daniel James Breton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

When snow falls on glaciers or ice sheets, it persists for many tens, hundreds and sometimes thousands of years before becoming ice. The granular material in between fresh snow and glacial ice is known as firn and is generally 50 to 100 m thick over polar ice sheets. The compaction mechanism of firn into ice (called densification) has important glaciological ramifications in determination of ice sheet stability and related sea level rise effects via remote sensing altimetry. Firn densification is also important for correctly interpreting ice core paleoclimate records, especially those analyzing gases trapped in air bubbles within the glacial …