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Full-Text Articles in Geology
A Mass Balance Study Of The West Antarctic Ice Sheet, Vandy Blue Spikes
A Mass Balance Study Of The West Antarctic Ice Sheet, Vandy Blue Spikes
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The present state of the West Antarctic ice sheet (WAIS) is a prime concern of science, but its large size and remote location have limited the amount of reliable data that are available for mass balance calculations. The spatial pattern of mass balance for a 100-km2 portion of the WAIS is estimated by calculating the residual flux of ice through 1-km grid cells organized into a geographical information system (GIs). The input data used for this estimate include continent-scale compilations of ice thickness and snow accumulation rate measurements, and ground-based measurements of snow accumulation rate and ice velocity. The …
Distribution Of Patterned Ground And Surficial Deposits On A Debris-Covered Glacier Surface In Mullins Valley And Upper Beacon Valley, Antarctica, Andrew M. Lorrey
Distribution Of Patterned Ground And Surficial Deposits On A Debris-Covered Glacier Surface In Mullins Valley And Upper Beacon Valley, Antarctica, Andrew M. Lorrey
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Beacon Valley is located in the western Dry Valleys, Antarctica, adjacent to the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS). The surficial material on the floor of Beacon Valley is segmented into large polygonal landforms separated by trenches. Buried beneath the polygons and surficial material is massive ground ice. One hypothesis is that the buried ice in upper Beacon Valley is glacier ice originating from local debris-covered glaciers. The networks of polygons and trenches form as the buried ice undergoes thermal contraction and sublimation. Contraction cracks that penetrate the surficial material and buried ice in Beacon Valley contain Late Miocene age volcanic …