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  • 1
    Publication Date: 2016-05-02
    Description: After the collapse of its neighbours, Larsen A and B, the Larsen C ice shelf is widely considered at risk of future climate-driven instability. Recent work has shown that the ice shelf is stabilized by soft melange in its suture zones, where adjacent flow units merge. Little is known about the mechanical properties of melange however, so that the quantification of its effect on the stability of Larsen C Ice Shelf has remained challenging. To identify the structural and elastic properties of the Joerg Peninsula suture zone in Larsen C Ice Shelf, we integrate seismic reflection and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) geophysical measurements. GPR transects reveal the presence of a stiff layer of meteoric ice, trapped between the softer melange beneath and the firn layer above. Monte Carlo analysis reveals that the seismic velocity of this melange is noticeably reduced compared to meteoric ice. By applying Hashin-Shtrikman bounds on the elastic moduli of a two-phase mixture of ice and water to the velocities, we are able to derive the elastic properties of the melange. We ascertain, significantly, that the melange is softer than meteoric ice because it contains a substantial volume fraction of water. The meteoric ice layer is buckling due to compressive lateral stresses. We suggest this process is analogous to fold buckling in sedimentary rocks. Using the ice flow model Elmer/Ice we are able to replicate this process, and thereby derive bounds on the rheological properties of the suture zone melange.
    Repository Name: EPIC Alfred Wegener Institut
    Type: Conference , notRev
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  • 2
    Publication Date: 2017-11-13
    Description: The surface mass balance (SMB) of the Larsen C ice shelf (LCIS), Antarctica, is poorly constrained due to a dearth of in situ observations. Combining several geophysical techniques, we reconstruct spatial and temporal patterns of SMB over the LCIS. Continuous time series of snow height (2.5–6 years) at five locations allow for multi-year estimates of seasonal and annual SMB over the LCIS. There is high interannual variability in SMB as well as spatial variability: in the north, SMB is 0.40+/-0.06 to 0.41+/-0.04mw.e. per year, while farther south, SMB is up to 0.50+/-0.05mw.e. per year. This difference between north and south is corroborated by winter snow accumulation derived from an airborne radar survey from 2009, which showed an average snow thickness of 0.34mw.e. north of 66° S, and 0.40mw.e. south of 68° S. Analysis of ground-penetrating radar from several field campaigns allows for a longer-term perspective of spatial variations in SMB: a particularly strong and coherent reflection horizon below 25–44m of waterequivalent ice and firn is observed in radargrams collected across the shelf. We propose that this horizon was formed synchronously across the ice shelf. Combining snow height observations, ground and airborne radar, and SMB output from a regional climate model yields a gridded estimate of SMB over the LCIS. It confirms that SMB increases from north to south, overprinted by a gradient of increasing SMB to the west, modulated in the west by föhn-induced sublimation. Previous observations show a strong decrease in firn air content toward the west, which we attribute to spatial patterns of melt, refreezing, and densification rather than SMB.
    Repository Name: EPIC Alfred Wegener Institut
    Type: Article , isiRev
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  • 3
    Publication Date: 2022-05-25
    Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2018. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 45 (2018): 11,187-11,196, doi:10.1029/2018GL079665.
    Description: Continuous seismic observations across the Ross Ice Shelf reveal ubiquitous ambient resonances at frequencies 〉5 Hz. These firn‐trapped surface wave signals arise through wind and snow bedform interactions coupled with very low velocity structures. Progressive and long‐term spectral changes are associated with surface snow redistribution by wind and with a January 2016 regional melt event. Modeling demonstrates high spectral sensitivity to near‐surface (top several meters) elastic parameters. We propose that spectral peak changes arise from surface snow redistribution in wind events and to velocity drops reflecting snow lattice weakening near 0°C for the melt event. Percolation‐related refrozen layers and layer thinning may also contribute to long‐term spectral changes after the melt event. Single‐station observations are inverted for elastic structure for multiple stations across the ice shelf. High‐frequency ambient noise seismology presents opportunities for continuous assessment of near‐surface ice shelf or other firn environments.
    Description: NSF Office of Polar Programs Grant Number: PLR-1142518
    Description: 2019-04-16
    Keywords: Ross Ice Shelf ; Antarctica ; Firn ; Ambient noise ; Temporal monitoring ; Resonances
    Repository Name: Woods Hole Open Access Server
    Type: Article
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