Entrainment at cold glacier beds

Abstract

Here we present measurements of the gas content and isotopic composition of debris-rich basal layers of a polar glacier, Meserve Glacier, Antarctica, which has a basal temperature of −17 °C. These measurements show that debris entrainment has occurred without alteration of the glacial ice, and provide the most direct evidence to date that active entrainment occurs at the beds of cold glaciers, without bulk freezing of water. Entrainment at subfreezing temperatures may have formed the U-shaped trough containing Meserve Glacier. In addition to possibly allowing some cold-based glaciers to be important geomorphic agents, entrainment at subfreezing temperatures provides a general mechanism for formation of the dirty basal layers of polar glaciers and ice sheets, which are rheologically distinct and can limit the time span of ice-core analyses. Furthermore, accumulating evidence suggests that geomorphologists should abandon the assumption that cold-based glaciers do not slide and abrade their beds.