Ice Bodies Research Articles

A numerical solver for coupled dynamic simulation of glacial ice impacts considering hydrodynamic-ice-structure interaction

Glacial ice features pose great threats on the safety of ships and offshore structures in the arctic. House sized bergy bits or growlers are of particular concern because of the detection capability limits of marine radars. Analysis and design of structures against collisions from such glacial ice bodies has always been challenging due to the complicated hydrodynamic-ice-structure interaction.This paper proposes a numerical solver for coupled simulation of glacial ice impacts accounting for the effects of hydrodynamic-ice-structure interaction. The solver adopts user subroutines provided in LS-DYNA and combines three different modules, i.e. the BWH (Bressan-Williams-Hill) criterion for the prediction of fracture of steels, a hydrostatic pressure dependent plasticity-based material model for constitutive modelling of ice, and the linear potential flow theory for hydrodynamic loads.The proposed solver is verified and calibrated to ice resistance data from field tests and is then applied to simulate ice collisions on a semi-submersible platform column. Collision scenarios with both in-plane 3DOF and full 6DOF ice motions are considered. The results are discussed with respect to ice motion trajectories, ice crushing and structural damage under the combined action of ice indentation and sliding loads. The dissipated energy predicted by external dynamic models is compared with simulation results and discussed.

Widespread Exposures of Extensive Clean Shallow Ice in the Midlatitudes of Mars

AbstractAlthough ice in the Martian midlatitudes is typically covered by a layer of dust or regolith, it is exposed in some locations by fresh impact craters or in erosional scarps. In both cases, the exposed ice is massive or excess ice with a low lithic content. We find that erosional scarps occur between 50° and 61° north and south latitude and that they are concentrated in and near Milankovič crater in the northern hemisphere and southeast of the Hellas basin in the southern hemisphere. These may represent locations of particularly thick or clean bodies of ice. Pits created by retreat of the scarps represent sublimation‐thermokarst landforms that evolve in a manner distinct from other ice‐loss landforms on Mars. New impact craters reveal that clean subsurface ice is widespread at middle‐ and high‐latitudes in both hemispheres at depths less than 1 m. Both the depth to ice and the ice content appear to exhibit significant variability over tens to hundreds of meters. The lowest‐latitude exposed ice is near 39°N and is at the edge of a region where impact exposures between 40° and 50°N are common, consistent with other indications of a high ice content. This lowest‐latitude ice may be currently unstable and subliming. Impact craters on lineated valley fill excavate ice blocks that may represent the top of debris‐covered glacial ice. Together, these landforms indicate widespread, clean subsurface ice at middle‐latitudes on Mars. The distribution and properties of this ice could provide information about past climate conditions.

Influence of Groundwater in the Base of the Gas Pipeline During the Formation of Aufeis

Pipelines with a large length in permafrost areas pass through various water passages. In winter, due to various types of waters – underground, river, and lake (often ice has mixed nutrition) – we observe the formation of aufeis. When they repeatedly pour out onto the surface and layer by layer freezing, plane-convex ice bodies are formed – aufeis. The heat and mass transfer interaction of a gas pipeline with a frozen ground base is considered during the filtration of permafrost groundwaters. Numerical modelling was carried out taking into account the real thawing process – freezing of the pore solution in the temperature spectrum at various temperature regimes of filtration of permafrost groundwater. As a result of a numerical experiment, it was established that aufeis formation occurs in the second half of winter and has a warming effect. In the first half of the summer period, intensive thawing of aufeis is observed, and the dynamics of the depth of seasonal thawing occurs with some delay, but at the beginning of the winter period, it is restored, as in ordinary soil. Long-term seasonal filtration of groundwater with a natural temperature of the environment has a warming effect on the temperature regime of frozen rocks. Warming and increased water saturation of the frozen soil base are accompanied by negative seasonal permafrost processes.

Recent Increases in Winter Snowfall Provide Resilience to Very Small Glaciers in the Julian Alps, Europe

Very small glaciers (<0.5 km2) account for more than 80% of the total number of glaciers and more than 15% of the total glacier area in the European Alps. This study seeks to better understand the impact of extreme snowfall events on the resilience of very small glaciers and ice patches in the southeastern European Alps, an area with the highest mean annual precipitation in the entire Alpine chain. Mean annual precipitation here is up to 3300 mm water equivalent, and the winter snow accumulation is approximately 6.80 m at 1800 m asl averaged over the period 1979–2018. As a consequence, very small glaciers and ice/firn patches are still present in this area at rather low altitudes (1830–2340 m). We performed repeated geodetic mass balance measurements on 14 ice bodies during the period 2006–2018 and the results show an increase greater than 10% increase in ice volume over this period. This is in accordance with several extreme winter snow accumulations in the 2000s, promoting a positive mass balance in the following years. The long-term evolution of these very small glaciers and ice bodies matches well with changes in mean temperature of the ablation season linked to variability of Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation. Nevertheless, the recent behaviour of such residual ice masses in this area where orographic precipitation represents an important component of weather amplification is somehow different to most of the Alps. We analysed synoptic meteorological conditions leading to the exceptional snowy winters in the 2000s, which appear to be related to the influence and modification of atmospheric planetary waves and Arctic Amplification, with further positive feedbacks due to change in local sea surface temperature and its interactions with low level flows and the orography. Although further summer warming is expected in the next decades, we conclude that modification of storm tracks and more frequent occurrence of extreme snowfall events during winter are crucial in ensuring the resilience of small glacial remnants in maritime alpine sectors.

СРАВНЕНИЕ ГИДРОТЕРМИЧЕСКОЙ СТРУКТУРЫ ДВУХ ЛЕДНИКОВ ШПИЦБЕРГЕНА И ТЯНЬ-ШАНЯ ПО ДАННЫМ РАДИОЗОНДИРОВАНИЯ

The distribution of cold and temperate ice and water in polythermal glaciers significantly affects their dynamics, thermal and hydrological regime. Radar techniques are an effective remote method of their studies that allows one to determine a glacier thickness by the delay time and to estimate the water content in temperate ice and at bedrock by the intensity of reflections from the interface between cold and temperate ice and the glacier bed. In case study of Austre Gronfjordbreen in Spitsbergen and Central Tuyksu glacier in Tien Shan we consider the features of their hydrothermal structure in spring and summer periods using the data of ground-based radio-­echo sounding at frequency of 20 MHz. To estimate the relative water content, we used data from measurements of relative power reflections from the cold-temperate ice interface, at the bedrock, and from the temperate ice body. In these glaciers (Austre Gronfjordbreen and Central Tuyksu), the average thickness of cold and temperate ice is, respectively, 61 ± 6 and 27 ± 2 m, and 39 ± 4 and 20 ± 2 m, the volume of cold ice is 0.466 ± 0.005 km 3 and 0.044 ± 0.002 km 3 , and volume of temperate ice is 0.104 ± 0.001 and 0.034 ± 0.001 km 3 . Warm ice contains 2080 × 10 3 and 680 × 10 3 m 3 of water, respectively, with an average content of 2%. Measurements along the longitudinal profiles of these glaciers showed that in some parts on Austre Gronfjordbreen in the spring period the average intensity of reflections from the cold­temperate ice interface and the bedrock is −0.02 – −26.3 and −6.0 – −11.8 dB, respectively, and at the whole profile this is −13.36 dB. At Central Tuyuksu glacier the spring values are −14.5 – −32.4 and −29.6 dB, respectively. We attribute such differences of glaciers to the different water content in the temperate ice below and above these boundaries, to the specific distribution of the ice facies zones and glacial nourishment, to the different intensity of surface melting in the spring and summer periods, and to the different crevassing and velocity of glaciers.

The disappearing cryosphere in the southeastern Alps: Introduction to special issue

Various ice bodies are an important source of paleoenvironmental data, and their study improves the understanding of present and future environmental conditions. Their changes are an important indicator of climate change. This special issue of Acta geographica Slovenica draws attention to the changing and disappearing cryosphere across the globe, with an emphasis on the southeastern Alps, and the necessity to conduct research in this field before the ice disappears forever. This paper briefly summarizes the current body of knowledge on glaciers, permafrost, cave ice, lake and river ice, and snow in the southeastern Alps, and it presents the contribution of Acta geographica Slovenica to this research and the main highlights of all five papers included in this special issue.

Ice caves on Mars: Hoarfrost and microclimates

Caves on planet Mars could potentially contain water ice deposits. Here, the physical processes responsible for the growth and preservation of spelean ice formations on Mars are assessed. Martian caves are situated in environments where phase transitions of water are only by sublimation. The predominant type of cave ice is expected to be perennial hoarfrost that slowly grows in supersaturated cavities. The role of cave microclimates for maintaining ice bodies is evaluated comparatively. Free and forced convection transport less sensible heat than in the denser terrestrial atmosphere. Cooling through sublimation is also expected to be far weaker in Martian caves than in terrestrial caves. Hence, the cooling of ice deposits by flow through the cave, often a crucial factor in terrestrial ice caves, is insignificant on Mars, which limits the geographic extent where cave ice deposits can be expected.

Pollen as a potential indicator of the origin of massive ice in northwest Siberia

AbstractPollen and spores collected from massive ice bodies in northwest Siberia were studied with the aim to provide a cryogenic indication of their origin. We discuss perennial massive ice, which may occur as lenses, layers, or irregular masses in the frozen ground and may be buried or intrasedimental. Pollen assemblages in massive ice deposits of Holocene age indicated a nonglacial origin of the ice. Pollen assemblages from glacial snow cover and snow patches on tundra were analyzed to reveal signs of buried ice. This approach allowed us to assess the nature of several massive ice bodies as intrasedimental and buried, and demonstrated how pollen may be used as an indicator for the origin of massive ice in northwest Siberia.

Drygalski Ice Tongue stability influenced by rift formation and ice morphology

AbstractThe Drygalski Ice Tongue in East Antarctica stretches 90 km into the Ross Sea and influences the local ocean circulation, and persistence of the Terra Nova Bay Polynya. We examine the controls on the size of this floating ice body by comparing the propagation of six large fractures on the ice tongue's northern side using 21 years of Landsat imagery with hydrostatic ice thickness maps and strain rate calculations. We also apply a subglacial hydrology model to estimate the location and discharge from subglacial channels over the grounding line and compare these with basal channels identified along the ice tongue using remote sensing and airborne radar data. Our results suggest that large fractures are inhibited from full-width propagation by thicker ice between basal channels. We hypothesize that only once the ice tongue thins towards the terminus, can fractures propagate and cause large calving events. This suggests an important relationship between the melting of floating ice from subglacial and ocean sources and the expansion of fractures that lead to ice tongue calving.

Overspilling small craters on a dry Mars: Insights from breach erosion modeling

Understanding when, where, and how frequently liquid water was stable on Mars since the Late Noachian/Early Hesperian (3.2-3.9 Ga) is important for understanding the evolution of Mars' climate and hydrology. Some relatively young features on Mars require multiple wetting events to form, whereas others are consistent with single wetting events. Small and rare exit breach craters or “pollywogs” are craters between 0.5 and 15 km in diameter with valleys leading away from the lowest point on their rims but no visible inlet valleys. These craters must have been filled with water to the point of overspill to form the observed valleys. The two possible water sources are precipitation and groundwater. In this paper we use measurements from Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) of 18 pollywog craters (21 outlet valleys) and a fixed channel width 0-D breach erosion model to determine whether pollywog exit breach valleys are consistent with a single crater overspill event, or if their formation requires multiple overspill events. Our model, which we compare to a selection of dam breaching events on Earth, predicts runaway erosion for two pollywog exit breaches. No runaway erosion is observed. We discuss potential explanations for this mismatch between the data and our model. We show that the majority of pollywog craters on Mars are consistent with formation during a single crater overspill event, incorporating a work around for the long-standing problem of unknown grainsize into our approach. Three pollywog craters require either multiple events or sustained water supply to drive erosion. We discuss potential source mechanisms for crater-filling water and conclude that pollywogs either formed in a single erosion event, driven by groundwater discharge, or through many small erosion events, driven by draining of small meltwater lakes formed on crater-filling bodies of ice.

Lateglacial and Holocene floras and faunas from the Salpetermosen area, north-east Sjælland, Denmark

The Salpetermosen area in north-east Sjælland, Denmark, was deglaciated about 18 000 to 17 000 years ago. Melting of bodies of stagnant glacier ice led to the for-mation of kettle holes, which contain Lateglacial and Holocene sediments with remains of plants and animals that provide information on the past flora and fauna of the area. During the Allerød period, open forests with Betula pubescens (downy birch) characterised the area, the flora included light-demanding species such as Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (bearberry), Empetrum nigrum (crowberry) and rare Populus tremula (aspen), Betula nana (dwarf birch) and Rubus saxatilis (stone bramble), as well as the thermophilous swamp plant Oenanthe aquatica (fine-leaved water dropwort). During the Younger Dryas, the vegetation was characterised by dwarf-shrub heaths dominated by Betula nana, but including Dryas octopetala (mountain avens), Salix herbacea (least willow), Arctostaphylos alpina (alpine bearberry,) and rare Betula pube-scens, as well as the thermophilous plants Urtica dioeca (stinging nettle) and Lychnis flos-cuculi (ragged robin). The Early Holocene forests were dominated by Betula pubescens, Populus tremula and Pinus sylvestris (scots pine), but included rare Betula nana. Alnus glutinosa (alder) arrived at c. 10 000 cal. years BP. The calciphilous sedge Cladium mariscus (fen-sedge) and the macrolimnophyte Najas marina (spiny naiad) were common. The Late Holocene flora included the acidophilous plant Scheuchzeria palustris (rannoch-rush).

Extracellular ice formation in special intercellular air spaces in Stachys byzantina C. Koch

In the present study, the sites of extracellular ice formation within leaves and petioles of Stachys byzantina C. Koch were identified and anatomically studied by different imaging techniques. Naturally acclimated plant parts were analyzed during the winter season in various states (fixed, native, before freezing, frozen and after thawing) by using digital microscopy, cryo scanning electron microscopy or via µ‐CT. Besides ice bodies occurring in normal intercellular spaces within the mesophyll, larger ice accumulations developed at special sites close to the vascular bundle of the petiole and the adaxial leaf veins. At those sites, ice accumulated in mainly four continuous intercellular spaces, which are reversibly expandable. In those spaces, various “connective zones” allowed the cells to remain connected during the freezing process. Two of these large intercellular spaces are located on the abaxial side, the other two on the adaxial side. This symmetrical arrangement continues into the petiole. Due to the dehydrating effect of extracellular ice formation, the living tissue showed considerable shrinkage during freezing. However, almost no freezing induced wilting could be detected, probably due to the stabilizing effect of collenchyma and lignified vascular tissue.

A Complete Isotope (δ15N, δ18O, Δ17O) Investigation of Atmospherically Deposited Nitrate in Glacial‐Hydrologic Systems Across the Third Pole Region

AbstractThe Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau, identified as the Third Pole (TP), is a unique region because of its insertion into global environmental and climatic changes. Deposition of atmospheric nitrate in this region is one of the most important sources of reactive nitrogen to glacial‐hydrologic system and ecosystems. The isotopic composition of atmospherically deposited nitrate preserved in ice bodies plays a central role in delineating environmental and climatic changes, present, and past. Here, we provide an overview of the complete isotopic compositions (δ15N, δ18O, and Δ17O) of nitrate in aerosol, snow, ice, and water samples (n = 46) collected across the Southern, Southeastern, Central, and Northern TP to constrain complex nitrogen cycles of the atmosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere, and, potentially, the biosphere. A large variability of snow nitrate isotopic compositions is observed across the TP at different spatial scales (from a single glacier to the entire plateau), likely due to the complex landscape and relevant physical and chemical processes across the TP. Large nitrate Δ17O values are observed in water samples collected from the Mt. Everest region, highlighting the considerable fraction (up to 45%) of atmospheric nitrate to the nitrate load in this Himalayan hydrologic system. Our work reveals the complex chemical, depositional, and postdepositional processes over the TP that are greater than previously thought and identifies further comprehensive investigations, which entail using nitrate isotopic compositions as an identifier for nitrate source apportionment in various ecosystems and understanding past atmospheric and climatic conditions in this region.

Minor Imbalance of the Lowermost Italian Glacier from 2006 to 2019

The response of very small glaciers to climate changes is highly scattered and little known in comparison with larger ice bodies. In particular, small avalanche-fed and debris-covered glaciers lack mass balance series of sufficient length. In this paper we present 13 years of high-resolution observations over the Occidentale del Montasio Glacier, collected using Airborne Laser Scanning, Terrestrial Laser Scanning, and Structure from Motion Multi-View Stereo techniques for monitoring its geodetic mass balance and surface dynamics. The results have been analyzed jointly with meteorological variables, and compared to a sample of “reference” glaciers for the European Alps. From 2006 to 2019 the mass balance showed high interannual variability and an average rate much closer to zero than the average of the Alpine reference glaciers (−0.09 vs. −1.42 m water equivalent per year, respectively). This behavior can be explained by the high correlation between annual balance and solid precipitation, which displayed recent peaks. The air temperature is not significantly correlated with the mass balance, which is main controlled by avalanche activity, shadowing and debris cover. However, its rapid increase is progressively reducing the fraction of solid precipitation, and increasing the length of the ablation season.

Topographic control of glacier changes since the end of the Little Ice Age in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains, Colombia

The Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta (12°N) hosts a unique glaciated environment (6.5 km2) only 40 km distant from the Caribbean Sea. However, the remoteness of the glaciers and restricted access to the region has so far prevented onsite field work research from being undertaken. We worked with several very high resolution airborne and satellite images to delimit the extension of the glaciers during the maximum extension of the Little Ice Age (ca. 1850), when glaciers covered 81.6 km2, and the ice cover in four subsequent phases (1954, 1995, 2010 and 2016). Polar plots and Random Forest models enabled characterization of the spatial distribution of ice cover in the region, and how the impact of topographic and geographical variables changed over time. Results show that elevation was the most important variable in explaining the existence of glaciers during the LIA. Since then, the ice cover has gradually been receding to areas shielded from solar radiation, even though the solar angle at this latitude is very high. Thus, results clearly confirm that topography is increasing its importance to explain the glacier distribution over the study area, and the particular characteristics of where each ice body is found will gain importance. Nonetheless, the probability of ice being present as predicted by Random Forests in 2017 suggests that most of the ice cover located outside the most elevated areas of the Sierra is very likely to disappear in coming years.

Experimental and numerical investigation of the performance of bogie chassis heater deicing systems

In winter, a large amount of icing and snowing occurs in outdoor equipment and systems, which adversely affects their lifespan. The melting process is divided into two parts: convection melting and gravity shedding melting. This paper is based on an experiment with a real high-speed train unit, and it establishes a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics model of the bogie area to validate the mathematical model of the winter ice melting experiment. A numerical simulation was used to calculate the airflow in the baffle-enclosed space and to predict the effects of interactions between air and the ice body on heat transfer and phase change. The influence of air velocity and temperature on the heat transfer was analyzed. The computational simulation effectively quantifies the amount of heat transfer and energy consumption under different conditions. This paper also presents a research method for the simulation of gravity shedding in complex models. These models provide information for the construction of similar ice melting models. This paper has suggested that for thin ice bodies, convection melting was the dominant strategy. For thick ice bodies, however, gravity shedding melting became dominant. The study also confirmed that enclosed hot-air ice-melting systems gave a better energy performance than unenclosed systems.

Estimation of the Atmospheric Ice Content Mass, Spatial Distribution, and Long‐Term Changes Based on the ERA5 Reanalysis

AbstractThe aerial cryosphere refers to all ice bodies in the atmosphere and has important impacts on the development of weather systems, climate change, and aviation safety. The total mass of the aerial cryosphere is evaluated for the first time based on the fifth generation European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts \atmospheric reanalysis (ERA5) reanalysis data set, and the spatiotemporal variability and long‐term change of the aerial cryosphere are investigated. The results show that the total mass of atmospheric ice is approximately 33.1 Gt [29.7–37.0 Gt], covering ~74.3% of the Earth's surface area with obvious latitudinal zonality and seasonal variability. The aerial cryosphere mass has been increasing over the past few decades due to the overall increase in the atmospheric water vapor content caused by rising global temperatures. Moreover, the contribution of warming to the ablation of the aerial cryosphere is negligible since there is no significant trend in the height of the atmospheric freezing point layer.

A high resolution 40Ar/39Ar lava chronology and edifice construction history for Tongariro volcano, New Zealand

Detailed mapping and geochronological investigations of edifice-forming materials reconstruct the growth history of Tongariro volcano, New Zealand, and subdivide the edifice into thirty six distinct units which are organised into twelve formations and constituent members. Twenty nine new 40Ar/39Ar age determinations, along with published K/Ar ages combined with volume estimates, petrographic observations and rock chemistry provide an integrated history of the volcano's growth through edifice-forming lavas and pyroclastic deposits. The oldest lava (512 ± 59 ka, 2 s.d.) is a small inlier of basaltic-andesite on Tongariro's NW sector that may reflect a nearly buried independent volcano. The next oldest material that can be confidently attributed to a Tongariro source is 304 ± 11 ka andesite, incorporated as boulders in late Pleistocene ejecta from the Tama Lakes area. In-situ lavas at Tongariro date from 230 ka to present, including numerous flows erupted during glacial periods and building the edifice unevenly due to emplacement against valley-filling ice bodies. Tongariro has a total edifice volume of ~90 km3, 19 km3 of which is represented by exposed map units, with glacial deposits amounting to <1 km3. The ring plain volume immediately adjacent to the volcano contains ~60 km3 of material.Sequential eruptive records, from 230 ka to present, reveal an irregular cyclicity in MgO concentrations over ~10–70 kyr intervals. During these cycles, rapid (≤10 kyr) increases in MgO concentrations to ≥5–9 wt% are inferred to reflect episodes of enhanced mafic magma replenishment, with maxima at ~230, ~160, ~117, ~88, ~56, ~35, ~17.5 ka and during the Holocene, which are each followed by gradual declines to ~2–5 wt%. Field evidence, including extensive moraines and U-shaped valleys, and lava textures, implies repeated occupation of valleys on Tongariro by major glaciers and possibly ice caps. During periods of major ice coverage, which generally correlate with global cold climate/glacial Marine Isotope Stages, edifice-building rates on Tongariro were only 17–26% of those during warmer climatic periods. Because the changes in edifice-building rates do not coincide with changes in the magmatic system, these contrasts are inferred to reflect a preservation bias whereby materials erupted onto ice were contemporaneously (or subsequently, as ice masses melted) conveyed to the ring plain as debris rather than building the edifice. Although the Tongariro edifice is smaller than that of neighbouring Ruapehu (~150 km3), the exposed edifice materials on Tongariro record a longer and more complex growth history. The wider geographic distribution of <50 ka vent locations at Tongariro reflects greater rifting rates than at Ruapehu.

Variations in surface area of six ice aprons in the Mont-Blanc massif since the Little Ice Age

AbstractDeglaciation of high mountain rockwalls alters slope stability as rockwalls become more sensitive to modifications in environmental factors (e.g. seasonal temperature variations). In the past decades, increasing efforts focused on studying deglaciated Alpine rockwalls. Yet, currently deglaciating rockfaces remain unstudied. Here, we quantify surface area variations of massive ice bodies lying on high mountain rockwalls (ice aprons) in the French sector of the Mont Blanc massif between the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA) and 2018. Surface area estimates are computed from terrestrial and aerial oblique photographs via photogrammetry. This technique allows using photographs taken without scientific intent, and to tap into diverse historical or recent photographic catalogs. We derive an ice apron surface area model from precipitation records and the positive degree-days. The studied ice aprons shrank from 1854 to the 1950s, before expanding until the end of the 1990s. The beginning of the 21st century shows a decrease in surface area, leading to the complete melt of one of the studied ice aprons in 2017. Observed variations correlate with modeled surface area, suggesting strong sensitivity of ice aprons to changes in climatic variables. By studying site-specific correlations, we explore the importance of local drivers over the balance of ice aprons.

The distribution and dynamics of aufeis in permafrost regions

AbstractAufeis, also known as an icing or naled, is an accumulation of ice that forms primarily during winter when water is expelled onto frozen ground or ice surfaces and freezes in layers. Process‐oriented aufeis research initially expanded in the 20th century, but recent interest in changing hydrological conditions in permafrost regions has rejuvenated this field. Despite its societal relevance, the controls on aufeis distribution and dynamics are not well defined and this impedes projections of variation in aufeis size and distribution expected to accompany climate change. This paper reviews the physical controls on aufeis development, current broad‐scale aufeis distribution and anticipated change, and approaches to aufeis investigation. We propose an adjustment to terminology to better distinguish between the formation process and resulting ice bodies, a clarification of the aufeis classification approach based on source water, and a size threshold for broad‐scale aufeis inventory to facilitate collaborative research. We identify additional objectives for future research including advancing process knowledge at fine spatial scales, describing broad‐scale distribution using current remote sensing capabilities, and improving our understanding and predictive capacity over the interactions between aufeis and landscape‐scale permafrost, hydrogeological, geotectonic, and climate conditions.