Description: Crystal anisotropy of ice causes slight birefringence for electromagnetic waves. At the same time, the mechanical anisotropy amounts to several orders of magnitude, thus making fabric properties highly-relevant for internal deformation. To date, bulk anisotropy of glaciers and ice sheets can be determined by geophysical methods, such as polarimetric radar, or direct sampling from ice cores. A shortcoming has been so far that changes of bulk anisotropy could mainly be inferred at single point observations, but less so as continuous profiles. Here, we exploit the effect of birefringence caused by bulk anisotropy in co-polarized airborne radar data to determine the horizontal anisotropy across the North-East Greenland Ice Stream. We base our analysis on the fact that birefringence causes a second-order effect on radar amplitudes, which leads to a beat frequency in the low and medium frequency range (O(100 kHz)), which is proportional to the horizontal anisotropy. Complementing our radar analysis with direct fabric and dielectric property observations we can constrain the range of all three fabric eigenvalues as a function of space across and along the ice stream. Finally, we assess the effect of the inferred fabric distribution on the overall ice rheology in the context of ice stream dynamics and compare it with numerical model results. Our overall approach has the advantage that it can be applied to co-polarized radar systems, as commonly used in profiling surveys, and does not require dedicated cross-polarized radar set-up. This provides the opportunity to revisit older data, especially from Greenland and Antarctica, to map fabric anisotropy in ice-dynamically interesting regions.

Description: Crystal anisotropy of ice causes slight birefringence for electromagnetic waves. At the same time, the mechanical anisotropy amounts to several orders of magnitude, thus making fabric properties highly-relevant for internal deformation. To date, bulk anisotropy of glaciers and ice sheets can be determined by geophysical methods, such as polarimetric radar, or direct sampling from ice cores. A shortcoming has been so far that changes of bulk anisotropy could mainly be inferred at single point observations, but less so as continuous profiles. Here, we exploit the effect of birefringence caused by bulk anisotropy in co-polarized airborne radar data to determine the horizontal anisotropy across the North-East Greenland Ice Stream. We base our analysis on the fact that birefringence causes a second-order effect on radar amplitudes, which leads to a beat frequency in the low and medium frequency range (O(100 kHz)), which is proportional to the horizontal anisotropy. Complementing our radar analysis with direct fabric and dielectric property observations we can constrain the range of all three fabric eigenvalues as a function of space across and along the ice stream. Finally, we assess the effect of the inferred fabric distribution on the overall ice rheology in the context of ice stream dynamics. Our overall approach has the advantage that it can be applied to co-polarized radar systems, as commonly used in profiling surveys, and does not require dedicated cross-polarized radar set-up. This provides the opportunity to revisit older data, especially from Greenland and Antarctica, to map fabric anisotropy in ice-dynamically interesting regions.

Description: Anisotropic crystal fabrics in ice sheets develop as a consequence of deformation and hence record information of past ice flow. Simultaneously, the fabric affects the present-day bulk mechanical properties of glacier ice because the susceptibility of ice crystals to deformation is highly anisotropic. This is particularly relevant in dynamic areas such as fast-flowing glaciers and ice streams, where the formation of strong fabrics might play a critical role in facilitating ice flow. Anisotropy is ignored in most state-of-the-art ice sheet models, and while its importance has long been recognized, accounting for fabric evolution and its impact on the ice viscosity has only recently become feasible. Both the application of such models to ice streams and their verification through in-situ observations are still rare. Ice cores provide direct and detailed information on the crystal fabric, but the logistical cost, technical challenges, particularly in fast-flowing ice and shear margins, difficulty in reconstructing the absolute orientation of the core, and their limitation of being a point measurement, make ice cores impractical for a spatially extensive evaluation of the fabric type. Indirect geophysical methods applied from or above the ice surface create the link between the small scale of laboratory experiments and ice–core observations to the large-scale coverage required for ice flow models and the complete understanding of ice stream dynamics. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of the distribution of the ice fabric in the upstream part of the North-East Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS). Our results are based on a combination of methods applied to extensive airborne and ground-based radar surveys, ice- and firn-core observations, and numerical ice-flow modelling. They show that in the onset region of NEGIS and around the EGRIP ice core drilling site, the fabric is horizontally strongly anisotropic, forming a horizontal girdle perpendicular to the ice flow, while the horizontal anisotropy reduces quickly over distances of less than five ice thicknesses outside of the ice stream’s shear margins. Downstream of the drill site, the fabric develops into a more vertically symmetric configuration on a time scale of around 2 ka, the first observation of this kind. Our study shows how ice-core based fabric observations, geophysical surveys and ice-flow modelling complement each other to obtain a more comprehensive picture of the spatially strongly varying fabric.

Description: Anisotropic crystal fabrics in ice sheets develop as a consequence of deformation and hence record information of past ice flow. Simultaneously, the fabric affects the present-day bulk mechanical properties of glacier ice because the susceptibility of ice crystals to deformation is highly anisotropic. This is particularly relevant in dynamic areas such as fast-flowing glaciers and ice streams, where the formation of strong fabrics might play a critical role in facilitating ice flow. This fact is ignored in most state-of-the-art ice sheet models, and while their importance has been recognized years ago, accounting for fabrics evolution and their impact on the ice viscosity has only recently become feasible. Both, the application of such models in ice streams as well as their verification through in-situ observations are, however, still rare. We present an extensive dataset of fabric anisotropy derived from radar data recorded in the onset region of the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream by air-borne and ground-based systems. Our methods yield the horizontal anisotropy and are based on travel time anisotropy and splitting as well as birefringence-induced power modulation of radar signals. They complement each other and show good agreement. We compare these in-situ observations with the results obtained from a fabric-evolution model employed along flow tubes in the ice stream onset to discuss the fabric in light of past flow history and its significance for the current flow mechanics of the ice stream.

Description: The dynamic mass loss of ice sheets constitutes one of the biggest uncertainties in projections of ice-sheet evolution. One central, understudied aspect of ice flow is how the bulk orientation of the crystal orientation fabric translates to the mechanical anisotropy of ice. Here we show the spatial distribution of the depth-averaged horizontal anisotropy and corresponding directional flow-enhancement factors covering a large area of the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream onset. Our results are based on airborne and ground-based radar surveys, ice-core observations, and numerical ice-flow modelling. They show a strong spatial variability of the horizontal anisotropy and a rapid crystal reorganisation on the order of hundreds of years coinciding with the ice-stream geometry. Compared to isotropic ice, parts of the ice stream are found to be more than one order of magnitude harder for along-flow extension/compression while the shear margins are potentially softened by a factor of two for horizontal-shear deformation.

Description: The European Beyond EPICA project aims to extract a continuous ice core of up to 1.5 Ma, with a maximum age density of 20 kyr m-1 at Little Dome C (LDC). We present a 1D numerical model which calculates the age of the ice around Dome C. The model inverts for basal conditions and accounts either for melting or for a layer of stagnant ice above the bedrock. It is constrained by internal reflecting horizons traced in radargrams and dated using the EPICA Dome C (EDC) ice core age profile. We used three different radar datasets ranging from a 10 000 km2 airborne survey down to 5 km long ground-based radar transects over LDC. We find that stagnant ice exists in many places, including above the LDC relief where the new Beyond EPICA drill site (BELDC) is located. The modelled thickness of this layer of stagnant ice roughly corresponds to the thickness of the basal unit observed in one of the radar surveys and in the autonomous phase-sensitive radio-echo sounder (ApRES) dataset. At BELDC, the modelled stagnant ice thickness is 198±44 m and the modelled oldest age of ice is 1.45±0.16 Ma at a depth of 2494±30 m. This is very similar to all sites situated on the LDC relief, including that of the Million Year Ice Core project being conducted by the Australian Antarctic Division. The model was also applied to radar data in the area 10-15 km north of EDC (North Patch), where we find either a thin layer of stagnant ice (generally 〈60 m) or a negligible melt rate (〈0.1 mm yr-1). The modelled maximum age at North Patch is over 2 Ma in most places, with ice at 1.5 Ma having a resolution of 9-12 kyr m-1, making it an exciting prospect for a future Oldest Ice drill site.

Description: The area near Dome C, East Antarctica, is thought to be one of the most promising targets for recovering a continuous ice-core record spanning more than a million years. The European Beyond EPICA consortium has selected Little Dome C (LDC), an area ∼35 km southeast of Concordia Station, to attempt to recover such a record. Here, we present the results of the final ice-penetrating radar survey used to refine the exact drill site. These data were acquired during the 2019-2020 austral summer using a new, multi-channel highresolution very high frequency (VHF) radar operating in the frequency range of 170-230 MHz. This new instrument is able to detect reflectors in the near-basal region, where previous surveys were largely unable to detect horizons. The radar stratigraphy is used to transfer the timescale of the EPICA Dome C ice core (EDC) to the area of Little Dome C, using radar isochrones dating back past 600 ka. We use these data to derive the expected depth-age relationship through the ice column at the now-chosen drill site, termed BELDC (Beyond EPICA LDC). These new data indicate that the ice at BELDC is considerably older than that at EDC at the same depth and that there is about 375m of ice older than 600 kyr at BELDC. Stratigraphy is well preserved to 2565 m, ∼93% of the ice thickness, below which there is a basal unit with unknown properties. An ice-flow model tuned to the isochrones suggests ages likely reach 1.5 Myr near 2500 m, ∼65m above the basal unit and ∼265m above the bed, with sufficient resolution (19±2 kyrm-1) to resolve 41 kyr glacial cycles.

Description: This dataset of radio-echo sounding internal reflecting horizons (IRH) which were traced across the radar surveys conducted in the 2019/20 Antarctic summer season at Little Come C, in the Dome C region of the East Antarctic Plateau. The data set is associated to publication: Chung, A., et al. (2023). The data were collected during a radar survey conducted in the Antarctic field seasons of 2019-20 using the Little Dome C - Very High Frequency (LDC-VHF) multichannel coherent radar depth sounder developed through a collaboration of The University of Alabama (UA), the University of Copenhagen (CPH) and the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI). The survey covered Patches A and B of Little Dome C (Lilien et al., 2021), in order to select the exact drill site for the Beyond EPICA Oldest Ice drilling project. The datasets consists of 12 transects systematically covering Patches A and B with parallel lines, over an area of approximately 5×8 km^2. The dataset contains 19 IRHs, the basal unit horizon and the ice-bed interface which were manually traced by Ailsa Chung, using the seismic environment of the Echos software from Paradigm Geophysical. A single file for each IRH is provided in a text file, tab separated format with both depth and two-way travel time. The conversion to depth done using c = 0.1685 m/μs and firn correction of 10 m. The IRHs are provided at approximately 3.5 m spacial resolution.

Description: This dataset of radio-echo sounding internal reflecting horizons (IRH) which were traced across the radar surveys conducted in the 2019/20 Antarctic summer season at Little Come C, in the Dome C region of the East Antarctic Plateau. The data set is associated to publication: Chung, A., et al. (2023). The data were collected during a radar survey conducted in the Antarctic field seasons of 2019-20 using the Little Dome C - Very High Frequency (LDC-VHF) multichannel coherent radar depth sounder developed through a collaboration of The University of Alabama (UA), the University of Copenhagen (CPH) and the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI). The survey covered Patches A and B of Little Dome C (Lilien et al., 2021), in order to select the exact drill site for the Beyond EPICA Oldest Ice drilling project. The datasets consists of 12 transects systematically covering Patches A and B with parallel lines, over an area of approximately 5×8 km^2. The dataset contains 19 IRHs, the basal unit horizon and the ice-bed interface which were manually traced by Ailsa Chung, using the seismic environment of the Echos software from Paradigm Geophysical. A single file for each IRH is provided in a text file, tab separated format with both depth and two-way travel time. The conversion to depth done using c = 0.1685 m/μs and firn correction of 10 m. The IRHs are provided at approximately 3.5 m spacial resolution.

Description: This dataset of radio-echo sounding internal reflecting horizons (IRH) which were traced across the radar surveys conducted in the 2019/20 Antarctic summer season at Little Come C, in the Dome C region of the East Antarctic Plateau. The data set is associated to publication: Chung, A., et al. (2023). The data were collected during a radar survey conducted in the Antarctic field seasons of 2019-20 using the Little Dome C - Very High Frequency (LDC-VHF) multichannel coherent radar depth sounder developed through a collaboration of The University of Alabama (UA), the University of Copenhagen (CPH) and the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI). The survey covered Patches A and B of Little Dome C (Lilien et al., 2021), in order to select the exact drill site for the Beyond EPICA Oldest Ice drilling project. The datasets consists of 12 transects systematically covering Patches A and B with parallel lines, over an area of approximately 5×8 km^2. The dataset contains 19 IRHs, the basal unit horizon and the ice-bed interface which were manually traced by Ailsa Chung, using the seismic environment of the Echos software from Paradigm Geophysical. A single file for each IRH is provided in a text file, tab separated format with both depth and two-way travel time. The conversion to depth done using c = 0.1685 m/μs and firn correction of 10 m. The IRHs are provided at approximately 3.5 m spacial resolution.