Investigations of internal structure and transformational processes from firn to ice in a perennial snow patch

Abstract

To investigate the internal structure and transformational processes from firn to ice of the Hisago snow patch on Daisetsu Mountain, Hokkaido, Japan, many drillings were made during the ablation period in 1986 and 1987. The ice cores were analyzed for stratigraphy, density and free water content. The internal structure of the snow patch was characterized by a wet firn layer with abundant ice layers and ice glands overlying a 4.3 m-thick ice body. The thickness of the firn layer varied from 12.7 m in June to 1.3 m in October. A water-saturated firn layer about 1 m thick existed just above the firn-ice transition. The annual layers were identified by dirt layers which showed that 1–2 m of ice was formed each year when the mass budget was positive. Although the densification of the water-saturated firn layer proceeded rapidly, the transformation from firn to ice could not be recognized during the ablation period. It was concluded that the formation mechanism of the ice body comprised three processes: the formation of superimposed ice, the densification of a water-saturated firn layer and the freezing of wet and/or water-saturated firn by cold wave penetration.