scholarly journals Instruments and methods: a case study of ice core bubbles as strain indicators

2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (78) ◽  
pp. 8-19
Author(s):  
John M. Fegyveresi ◽  
Richard B. Alley ◽  
Donald E. Voigt ◽  
Joan J. Fitzpatrick ◽  
Lawrence A. Wilen
Keyword(s):  
Ice Core ◽  
Local Stress ◽  
Strain Gauges ◽  
Far Field ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Large Variability ◽  
Flow Deformation ◽  
Image Analyses ◽  
Local Stress Field

AbstractMeasurements of a sample from ~580 m depth in the WAIS Divide (WDC06A) ice core reveal that bubbles are preferentially elongated in the basal plane of their parent grain, as expected if bubble shape preserves the record of dominant basal glide. This suggests that a method using bubbles as strain gauges could provide insights to grain-scale ice deformation. We introduce a technique using fabric and image analyses of paired thin and thick sections. Comparison of the crystallographic orientations of 148 grains and the shape orientations of 2377 intragrain bubbles reveals a strongly preferred elongation of bubbles in the grain basal planes (R2 = 0.96). Elongation magnitudes are consistent with a balance between ice flow deformation and diffusive restoration, with larger bubbles more elongated. Assuming bubbles record ice strain, grains with greater resolved stress on their basal planes from the far-field ice flow stresses show greater deformation, but with large variability suggesting that heterogeneity of the local stress field causes deformation even in unfavorably oriented grains. A correlation is also observed among bubble elongation, grain size, and bubble size, explaining a small but significant fraction of the variance ( P< 0.05), with implications for controls on ice deformation, as discussed here.

scholarly journals Warm-based basal sediment entrainment and far-field Pleistocene origin evidenced in central Transantarctic blue ice through stable isotopes and internal structures

2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (244) ◽  
pp. 185-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOSEPH A. GRALY ◽  
KATHY J. LICHT ◽  
CHRISTINE M. KASSAB ◽  
BROXTON W. BIRD ◽  
MICHAEL R. KAPLAN
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotopes ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Far Field ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Air Bubble ◽  
Internal Structures ◽  
Flow Speeds ◽  
Sediment Entrainment ◽  
Stable Isotopes Of Water ◽  
Basal Melting

ABSTRACTStable isotopes of water (δ18O and δ2H) were measured in the debris-laden ice underlying an Antarctic blue ice moraine, and in adjoining Law Glacier in the central Transantarctic Mountains. Air bubble content and morphology were assessed in shallow ice core samples. Stable isotope measurements plot either on the meteoric waterline or are enriched from it. The data cluster in two groups: the ice underlying the moraine has a δ2H:δ18O slope of 5.35 ± 0.92; ice from adjoining portions of Law Glacier has a slope of 6.69 ± 1.39. This enrichment pattern suggests the moraine's underlying blue ice entrained sediment through refreezing processes acting in an open system. Glaciological conditions favorable to warm-based sediment entrainment occur 30–50 km upstream. Basal melting and refreezing are further evidenced by abundant vapor figures formed from internal melting of the ice crystals. Both the moraine ice and Law Glacier are sufficiently depleted of heavy isotopes that their ice cannot be sourced locally, but instead must be derived from far-field interior regions of the higher polar plateau. Modeled ice flow speeds suggest the ice must be at least 80 ka old, with Law Glacier's ice possibly dating to OIS 5 and moraine ice older still.

scholarly journals IceChrono1: a probabilistic model to compute a common and optimal chronology for several ice cores

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 1473-1492 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Parrenin ◽  
L. Bazin ◽  
E. Capron ◽  
A. Landais ◽  
B. Lemieux-Dudon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Probabilistic Model ◽  
Accumulation Rate ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Complex Problem ◽  
Polar Ice ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Marquardt Algorithm ◽  
Lock In

Abstract. Polar ice cores provide exceptional archives of past environmental conditions. The dating of ice cores and the estimation of the age-scale uncertainty are essential to interpret the climate and environmental records that they contain. It is, however, a complex problem which involves different methods. Here, we present IceChrono1, a new probabilistic model integrating various sources of chronological information to produce a common and optimized chronology for several ice cores, as well as its uncertainty. IceChrono1 is based on the inversion of three quantities: the surface accumulation rate, the lock-in depth (LID) of air bubbles and the thinning function. The chronological information integrated into the model are models of the sedimentation process (accumulation of snow, densification of snow into ice and air trapping, ice flow), ice- and air-dated horizons, ice and air depth intervals with known durations, Δdepth observations (depth shift between synchronous events recorded in the ice and in the air) and finally air and ice stratigraphic links in between ice cores. The optimization is formulated as a least squares problem, implying that all densities of probabilities are assumed to be Gaussian. It is numerically solved using the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm and a numerical evaluation of the model's Jacobian. IceChrono follows an approach similar to that of the Datice model which was recently used to produce the AICC2012 (Antarctic ice core chronology) for four Antarctic ice cores and one Greenland ice core. IceChrono1 provides improvements and simplifications with respect to Datice from the mathematical, numerical and programming point of views. The capabilities of IceChrono1 are demonstrated on a case study similar to the AICC2012 dating experiment. We find results similar to those of Datice, within a few centuries, which is a confirmation of both IceChrono1 and Datice codes. We also test new functionalities with respect to the original version of Datice: observations as ice intervals with known durations, correlated observations, observations as air intervals with known durations and observations as mixed ice–air stratigraphic links. IceChrono1 is freely available under the General Public License v3 open source license.

scholarly journals Site information and initial results from deep ice drilling on Law Dome, Antarctica

1997 ◽  
Vol 43 (143) ◽  
pp. 3-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
V.I. Morgan ◽  
C.W. Wookey ◽  
J. Li ◽  
T.D. van Ommen ◽  
W. Skinner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
High Accumulation ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Ice Cap ◽  
Basal Ice ◽  
Inland Ice ◽  
The Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
Initial Results ◽  
The Last Glacial

AbstractThe aim of deep ice drilling on Law Dome, Antarctica, has been to exploit the special characteristics of Law Dome summit, i.e. low temperature and high accumulation near an ice divide, to obtain a high-resolution ice core for climatic/environmental studies of the Holocene and the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Drilling was completed in February 1993, when basal ice containing small fragments of rock was reached at a depth of 1196 m. Accurate ice dating, obtained by counting annual layers revealed by fine-detail δ18О, peroxide and electrical-conductivity measurements, is continuous down to 399 m, corresponding to a date of AD 1304. Sulphate concentration measurements, made around depths where conductivity tracing indicates volcanic fallout, allow confirmation of the dating (for Agung in 1963 and Tambora in 1815) or estimates of the eruption date from the ice dating (for the Kuwae, Vanuatu, eruption ~1457). The lower part of the core is dated by extrapolating the layer-counting using a simple model of the ice flow. At the LGM, ice-fabric measurements show a large decrease (250 to 14 mm2) in crystal size and a narrow maximum in c-axis vertically. The main zone of strong single-pole fabrics however, is located higher up in a broad zone around 900 m. Oxygen-isotope (δ18O) measurements show Holocene ice down to 1113 m, the LGM at 1133 m and warm (δ18O) about the same as Holocene) ice near the base of the ice sheet. The LGM/Holocene δ18O shift of 7.0‰, only ~1‰ larger than for Vostok, indicates that Law Dome remained an independent ice cap and was not overridden by the inland ice sheet in the Glacial.

Lifetime Prediction of Components Including Initiation Phase

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Besel ◽  
Angelika Brueckner-Foit
Keyword(s):  
Input Data ◽  
Local Stress ◽  
Fatigue Loading ◽  
Computer Code ◽  
Lifetime Distribution ◽  
Element Analysis ◽  
Initiation Phase ◽  
Mechanics Model ◽  
Critical Regions ◽  
Local Stress Field

The lifetime distribution of a component subjected to fatigue loading is calculated using a micro-mechanics model for crack initiation and a fracture mechanics model for crack growth. These models are implemented in a computer code which uses the local stress field obtained in a Finite Element analysis as input data. Elemental failure probabilities are defined which allow to identify critical regions and are independent of mesh refinement. An example is given to illustrate the capabilities of the code. Special emphasis is put on the effect of the initiation phase on the lifetime distribution.

Evidence for a large surface ablation zone in central East Antarctica during the last Ice Age

2003 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin J. Siegert ◽  
Richard C. A. Hindmarsh ◽  
Gordon S. Hamilton
Keyword(s):  
Ice Core ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Internal Layers ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Glacial Ice ◽  
Ice Surface ◽  
Ice Flows ◽  
Last Ice Age ◽  
The Hill

AbstractInternal isochronous ice sheet layers, recorded by airborne ice-penetrating radar, were measured along an ice flowline across a large (>1 km high) subglacial hill in the foreground of the Transantarctic Mountains. The layers, dated through an existing stratigraphic link with the Vostok ice core, converge with the ice surface as ice flows over the hill without noticeable change to their separation with each other or the ice base. A two-dimensional ice flow model that calculates isochrons and particle flowpaths and accounts for ice flow over the hill under steady-state conditions requires net ablation (via sublimation) over the stoss face for the predicted isochrons to match the measured internal layers. Satellite remote sensing data show no sign of exposed ancient ice at this site, however. Given the lack of exposed glacial ice, surface balance conditions must have changed recently from the net ablation that is predicted at this site for the last 85,000 years to accumulation.

Ribbed bedforms, markers of palaeo-ice stream margins, basal meltwater drainage and ice flow dynamic

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Vérité ◽  
Édouard Ravier ◽  
Olivier Bourgeois ◽  
Stéphane Pochat ◽  
Thomas Lelandais ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Flow Direction ◽  
Local Stress ◽  
Sediment Surface ◽  
Shear Stresses ◽  
Ice Streams ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Ice Stream ◽  
Physical Experiments ◽  
Stream Beds ◽  
Ice Water

&lt;p&gt;Over the three last decades, great efforts have been undertaken by the glaciological community to characterize the behaviour of ice streams and better constrain the dynamics of ice sheets. Studies of modern ice stream beds reveal crucial information on ice-meltwater-till-bedrock interactions, but are restricted to punctual observations limiting the understanding of ice stream dynamics as a whole. Consequently, theoretical ice stream landsystems derived from geomorphological and sedimentological observations were developed to provide wider constraints on those interactions on palaeo-ice stream beds. Within these landsystems, the spatial distribution and formation processes of subglacial periodic bedforms transverse to the ice flow direction &amp;#8211; ribbed bedforms &amp;#8211; remain unclear. The purpose of this study is (i) to explore the conditions under which these ribbed bedforms develop and (ii) to constrain their spatial organisation along ice stream beds. &amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We performed physical experiments with silicon putty (to simulate the ice), water (to simulate the meltwater) and sand (to simulate a soft sedimentary bed) to model the dynamics of ice streams and produce analog subglacial landsystems. We compare the results of these experiments with the distribution of ribbed bedforms on selected examples of palaeo-ice stream beds of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Based on this comparison, we can draw several conclusions regarding the significance of ribbed bedforms in ice stream contexts:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Ribbed bedforms tend to form where the ice flow undergoes high velocity gradients and the ice-bed interface is unlubricated. Where the ribs initiate, we hypothesize that high driving stresses generate high basal shear stresses, accommodated through bed deformation of the active uppermost part of the bed.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Ribbed bedforms can develop subglacially from a flat sediment surface beneath shear margins (i.e., lateral ribbed bedforms) and stagnant lobes (i.e., submarginal ribbed bedforms) of ice streams, while they do not develop beneath surging lobes.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;The orientation of ribbed bedforms reflects the local stress state along the ice-bed interface, with transverse bedforms formed by compression beneath ice lobes and oblique bedforms formed by transgression below lateral shear margins.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;The development of ribbed bedforms where the ice-bed interface is unlubricated reveals distinctive types of discontinuous basal drainage systems below shear and lobe margins: linked-cavities and efficient meltwater channels respectively.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ribbed bedforms could thus constitute convenient geomorphic markers for the reconstruction of palaeo-ice stream margins, palaeo-ice flow dynamics and palaeo-meltwater drainage characteristics.&lt;/p&gt;

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