Temperate Ice Beneath the “Polar” Taylor Glacier, Victoria Land, Antarctica (Abstract only)

Abstract

Two interdependent lines of evidence contribute to an understanding of basal ice conditions within Taylor Glacier, from the thermal regime and from features of the englacial and basal debris. The thermal regime of the basal ice in Taylor Glacier suggests mechanisms for the entrainment and transportation of debris near the glacier sole. Assuming steady-state conditions, basal temperatures over the ablation area of Taylor Glacier were calculated from the geothermal heat in flux, the nearsurface ice temperatures, ice velocities, and the ice thickness. In over 50% of the lower ablation area the basal ice may be melting. The englacial and basal debris is incorporated by processes operating at the glacier sole. Englacial debris is incorporated by particle regelation; basal debris is incorporated by freezing block regelation. Both processes occur close to the glacier margin, where inner warm basal ice is in contact with marginal cold ice. The debris frozen to the sole here remains relatively unmodified during transport to the margin. Both lines of evidence indicate that Taylor Glacier is, and has been, capable of erosion and entrainment of debris by temperate ice at the glacier sole. Debris deposited along the margin i s similar to drift deposited beyond the glacier, implying that any recent climatic changes have had little effect on basal ice conditions within Taylor Glacier.