Remote-sensing methods are the primary ones used for ice mapping in the Baltic Sea. A major methodological improvement is now being introduced by satellite radars due to their weather independency and high resolution. To learn how to use ERS-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data, an extensive field programme BEPERS (Bothnian Experiment in Preparation for ERS-1) with airborne SARs has been arranged. The BEPERS pilot study was undertaken in 1987 using the French VARAN-S X-band SAR. The SAR was flown on 1 day over four study areas of size approximately 10 km x 50 km, and intensive validation observations were made. The data were most useful for the education they provided on how to work with SAR in sea-ice mapping. They have been used for developing SAR image-analysis methods, back-scatter modelling investigations and geophysical validation of SAR imagery. Cleaning-up of images consisted of speckle reduction and segmentation. Back-scatter characteristics of undeformed ice and ridges were examined. Ice-type classification was based on the box-classification method. Eight ice types were defined but basically only two types, undeformed ice/open water and deformed ice, could be discriminated. Two basic problems of high practical importance remained: how to discriminate between (1) open water and undeformed ice, and (2) ridged ice and brash ice. The data further showed illustrative examples of SAR imagery over sea ice.

Victoria Lower Glacier is a complex structure of ice from two distinct sources (Schultz Glacier to the north and a local névé of Victoria Lower Glacier) that join at a broad median shear zone. Evidence from the margins suggest that both are currently retreating. Algae in a block of frozen stratified sediment from within the ice of the terminal margin has a radiocarbon age of 20 200 ± 2400 year BP (NZ 6531 A), indicating that the glacier has advanced since that time. Superposition of ice levels of Ross Sea I glaciation on a radio echo–sounding profile of bedrock beneath the glacier indicates that it is unlikely that Ross Sea I ice entered the valley. The radiocarbon date supports this finding.

The seasonal precipitation of Ruwenzori is examined and the height of the climatic snowline determined. Two distinct periods of surplus accumulation and two ablation seasons can be recognized and give rise to a somewhat complex stratification. Precipitation diminishes with altitude above about 10,000 feet (3,050 m.). The water equivalent of the annual accumulation on the highest peak is thought to lie between 25 and 30 inches (635–762 mm.). Twelve months’ synoptic charts have been analysed and an attempt is made to relate the seasonal variations of accumulation and ablation to the meteorological factors accompanying the oscillations of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone.

The first successful radar echo soundings through glacier ice in Canada were carried out by the Dominion Observatory in 1965 on an outlet glacier of the Penny Ice Cap in Baffin Island. An unmodified 440 MHz SCR-718 radar altimeter was used, of the type that is readily and inexpensively available on the surplus market. The radar soundings were generally in agreement, within the range of the reading accuracy of the oscilloscope (± 15 m), with depths obtained seismically, gravimetrically, and by the electrical resistivity method. The minimum and maximum recorded depths were 45 m and 550 m, respectively. The pip positions on the standard oscilloscope were recorded visually. This recording method was not satisfactory, but for future use the instrument could easily be modified to incorporate a larger oscilloscope with continuous photographic recording. Use of the relatively high carrier frequency of 440 MHz (compared with the more customary frequency of about 35 MHz) allows the use of smaller antennas and results in better resolution of the bedrock surface.

It has for some time been obvious that far-reaching results could be obtained by penetrating right through a glacier to its bed. The expense however has always been prohibitive. Recently however Dr. H. Carol, of Zürich, had the ingenious but simple idea of going down through a glacier by means of a glacier pot-hole and has described his experiences in Les Alpes, 1945 (pp. 180–84).

A series of 40 impact tests was conducted an large right-circular cylinders (68.5 cm diameter and 25.7 cm thickness) of iceberg ice collected from an iceberg in Labrador. Temperature profiles were also obtained for the iceberg and the profiles exhibited differences associated with the probe location. Temperatures as low as –15°C were measured at penetration depths of about 8 m. The impact specimens were confined at the perimeter and base by a rigid metallic ring and plate. A spherically terminated impactor, with center-mounted pressure transducer, was dropped on to the flat top surface of specimens from various heights and with various added masses. Impact velocity varied from 1.8 to 3.9 m s−1; impactor mass varied from 155 to 510 kg and the ice-specimen temperature varied from –0.5° to –14.5°C. Peak center pressures averaged from about 25 MPa at the highest temperature to about 41 MPa at the lowest temperature, with the highest recorded pressure being 50 M Pa. Crater volume increased with increasing impact energy, as expected; however, the specific energy of the ejected material was found to decrease as the energy of impact and crater volume increased. A mechanism for this observed behaviour is proposed.

Stable isotope ratios and salinities of ice samples obtained from a submarine ice cliff at Explorers Cove demonstrate that the upper parts of the ice cliff have frozen directly from sea-water and are an underwater expression of permafrost, whereas the lower parts appear to be partially glacial in origin. These results indicate that there may be ice cores in the moraines of Explorers Cove, in which case the coastline of McMurdo Sound is more extensively ice-cored than previously known.

The cross-sectional profile of a glacial valley can be obtained with a variational principle in which the friction against the valley walls and the glacier bed is extremized, subject to a Lagrangian constraint. We show that the actual valley profile maximizes the friction, thus settling an old debate.

Since the mid-20th century, ice shelves around the Antarctic Peninsula have declined in extent and thickness, and some have shown signs of structural instability. Here, using satellite imagery from 1999/2000 to 2019/20 (Landsat 7 and 8, Sentinel-2 and ASTER), we measure areal changes, calculate surface flow speeds, and quantify structural changes of Bach, Stange and George VI ice shelves, located in the southwest Antarctic Peninsula. We recorded a total area loss of 797.5 km2 from 2009/10 to 2019/20, though spatial and temporal patterns varied at individual ice fronts. Flow speeds remained largely stable over the observation periods, but notable acceleration was calculated for Bach Ice Shelf, and at the northern and southern extents of George VI Ice Shelf. Open fractures widened and lengthened between 2009/10 and 2019/20 on all three ice shelves. We conclude that Stange Ice Shelf is stable, and not under any immediate threat of enhanced recession. Continued ice-mass loss and consequential speed up of George VI South may cause further fracturing and destabilisation in the coming decades. Of more immediate concern are the glaciological changes noted for Bach Ice Shelf and George VI North; substantial areas of stabilising ice have already, or will soon be removed, that may lead to enhanced recession within the next decade.

We present a re-analysis of the results obtained from a series of measurements on freshwater and saline ice beams under various centrifugal accelerations. The data show a strong influence of beam size, brine volume and centrifugal acceleration on the elastic modulus of ice. The data suggest a transition brine volume at around 9%, which might occur close to the melting point, at which the elastic modulus of ice drops rapidly due to a possible change of brine-pocket structure. Furthermore, for brine volumes less than 9%, there is a negligible increase in the elastic modulus measured under high centrifugal acceleration, but for brine volumes more than 9% the increase is considerable, approaching that measured with freshwater ice. This may be due to necking of brine drainage channels just above the ice/water interface at high centrifugal acceleration. A model of sea ice was constructed based on existing theories of brine inclusions in sea ice, which satisfactorily predicts the observed trends.

Parameterizing the incoming longwave radiation L ↓ in terms of the fourth power of the absolute temperature at the reference height is used in glaciology for several purposes. In this paper, the validity of this kind of parameterization is investigated for the Greenland ice sheer, both by observations and by numerical simulation with a meso-scale model, It is found that such a parameterization severely underestimates the increase of L ↓ in response to large-scale warming in an area where surface melting is important. This is explained by the systematic influence that is exerted on the shape of the temperature profiles by surface melting.

The authors describe a new method that allows an accurate, cheap and quick characterization of snow grains from natural snowpacks. The method is based on stopping all metamorphism of snow grains by immersing them in cold isooctane. Snow grains are then carried from the field, stored in a cold room and easily observed through a microscope. It then makes possible recording of snow-grain pictures in a state similar to their natural state, even after storage of several months.

A linear model was used to investigate the behaviour of the Italian Western Tauri glaciers as a result of temperature changes projected for the 21st century. The model estimates the temperature variations once the glacier snout length variations are known and vice versa: it estimates the glacier snout length variations once the air temperature variations are known or predicted. The 46 glaciers of the Italian Western Tauri, 35 (76%) of which have areas smaller than 0.5 km2 and only 7 (15%) larger than 1 km2, are mostly mountain type glaciers and only three are presently valley glaciers. The model has been forced by the air temperature projections of the A1B emission scenario, which indicates an increase in temperature of 2.7°C from 2015 to 2100. The results show a shortening of more than 35% for mountain glaciers by 2100 with a surface loss of more than 60% and smaller reductions for valley glaciers. The consequent fragmentation into smaller units would lead to the extinction of 95% of the existing glaciers by the end of the century, possibly leaving only the valley glaciers surviving.

The study of subglacial movements taking place in regions of cavitation beneath the Glacier d’Argentière, has demonstrated the necessity for using several cavitometers. The very unusual conditions in which such apparatus is installed to measure simultaneously the velocity and the position of the ice vault have led us to design and produce a prototype of a portable cavitometer which records the data on magnetic tape (cassettes).