We report on laboratory experiments on the motion of powder-snow avalanches along a bent chute. The avalanches are simulated as turbulent boundary-layer flows of polystyrene particles in still water along a chute consisting of a straight inclined part, a curved part and a second, possibly inclined, run-out zone. An ultrasonic measuring technique is used to determine mean particle speeds (via the Doppler shift of the reflected signal) and the particle concentration (via the attenuation of the echoes). By ensemble averaging, individual turbulence effects are eliminated. As measuring procedures, profiles were determined for particle velocity and density across the boundary layer; these were taken (i) for the avalanche tail along the entire track, i.e. in the steep part and the run-out zone, and (ii) for the avalanche head in the run-out zone below the kink in the terrain. Moreover, time sections of velocity and density (i.e. time series at fixed positions along a line through the boundary layer) were recorded and the particle mass deposited in the various zones of the track was measured.

The analysis of the data reveals the following results: a concave change in the terrain topography acts as a very efficient mechanism for particle sedimentation, thus affecting particle concentration and velocity, and considerable reduction close to the ground, whereas the density is reduced throughout the depth, thus leading to a considerable reduction of dynamic pressure close to the ground and leaving it somewhat greater at higher altitudes. We conclude with practical considerations for the field glaciologist.

Early photographs of a cirque glacier complex in the Arrigetch Peaks of the south-central Brooks Range date from 1911, and are the second oldest known set of glacier photographs from northern Alaska. Matching photographs and supplementary observations made in 1962 indicate that changes over the past 51 yr. in this area include general glacial recession and thinning, the emergence of pronounced trimlines and partial melting of ice cores beneath recent moraines.

Renewed post-hypsithermal glacial activity in the Arrigetch Peaks area attained two maxima in the recent past. The younger moraines lie close to glacier positions shown in the 1911 photographs, contain ice cores which extend practically to their surfaces and were probably formed in the latter part of the nineteenth century. More weathered deposits, underlain by ice cores at relatively greater depths, were formed at some unknown earlier date. The moraines are correlated with the two-substage recent Fan Mountain advance of northern Alaska and may correspond to dated mid-eighteenth century and middle to late nineteenth century advances of alpine glaciers in the north Pacific coastal mountains of North America.

A site situated close to the main divide of the Penny Ice Cap, Baffin Island was occupied in 1979 for the purpose of determining the suitability of this ice cap for providing proxy climatic data and other environmental time series for a span of 104 a. A 20 m core was extracted and analysed for stable oxygen isotopes, tritium concentration, pH, electrolytic conductivity, major ion concentrations, and particulate concentration. An adjacent dedicated shallow core was analysed for pollen content to determine if a significant seasonal variation in the pollen rain existed. From these measurements, and from the observations made on the stratigraphic character of the core, the mean net accumulation rate over the approximately 30 year period covered by the core is found to be about 0.43 m water equivalent per year. This is in agreement with a single value determined 26 years earlier at a nearby site (Ward and Baird, 1954). The mean annual temperature in the bore hole was found to be close to −14.4° C, possibly some 2–5 deg warmer than the expected mean annual surface air temperature at the site. This difference is due to the expulsion of latent heat upon freezing of melt water at depth in the snow-pack which gives rise to the many ice layers observed in the core. The percentage thickness of ice layers per year may be correlated with summer temperatures.

Total ice depths were measured using a 620 MHz radar echo-sounder. In the vicinity of the divide, over an area of 1 km2, the ice depths vary from about 460 to 515 m. These values compare favourably with values determined from an airborne radar depth-sounding flight carried out over the ice cap by a joint U.S.–Danish mission operating out of Søndre Strømfjord, Greenland. The data suggest that the ice-cap divide would be a worthwhile location to deep core drill with an expected useful coverage of at least the Holocene period.

The Gorge du Guil (Hautes-Alpes) might be regarded as a typical example of a post-glacial gorge. In fact, this is not the case. Systematic and very detailed observations based on maps of the scale of 1 : 5,000 have revealed that the greatest part of the excavation of the defiles, cut across the bands of massive rocks, was accomplished by subglacial melt waters. Remnants of glacial deposits containing well-rounded pebbles, but whose finer constituents have been largely removed, occur a few metres above the present valley floor in each of these defiles. The down-cutting was very powerful, being facilitated by the crevassing of the ice, which was at the most 300 m. thick, over the ridges and in the constricted sections of the valley, and by the load carried in the englacial melt water. The sheltered and sunny climate, and the situation of the area below the limit of permanent snow also favoured erosion by melt water. By comparison, post-glacial down-cutting has been slight, not exceeding some ten metres in the massive strata, and appears to have been far less rapid than the subglacial erosion.

Theory and observation show that glacier-flow regimes characterized by high basal slip enhance the projection of topographic detail to the surface, motivating this investigation into the efficacy of using glacier surges to improve bed estimation. Here we adapt a Bayesian inversion scheme and apply it to real and synthetic data as a proof of concept. Synthetic tests show a reduction in mean RMSE between true and inferred beds by more than half, and an increase in the mean correlation coefficient of ~0.5, when data from slip- versus deformation-dominated regimes are used. Multi-epoch inversions, which partition slip- and deformation-dominated regimes, are shown to outperform inversions that average over these flow regimes thereby squandering information. Tests with real data from a surging glacier in Yukon, Canada, corroborate these results, while highlighting the challenges of limited or inconsistent data. With the growing torrent of satellite-based observations, fast-flow events such as glacier surges offer potential to improve bed estimation for some of the world's most dynamic glaciers.

Subglacial lake water-volume changes produce ice-elevation anomalies that provide clues about water flow beneath glaciers and ice sheets. Significant challenges remain in the quantitative interpretation of these elevation-change anomalies because the surface expression of subglacial lake activity depends on basal conditions, rate of water-volume change, and ice rheology. To address these challenges, we introduce an inverse method that reconstructs subglacial lake activity from altimetry data while accounting for the effects of viscous ice flow. We use a linearized approximation of a Stokes ice-flow model under the assumption that subglacial lake activity only induces small perturbations relative to a reference ice-flow state. We validate this assumption by accurately reconstructing lake activity from synthetic data that are produced with a fully nonlinear model. We then apply the method to estimate the water-volume changes of several active subglacial lakes in Antarctica by inverting data from NASA's Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite 2 (ICESat-2) laser altimetry mission. The results show that there can be substantial discrepancies (20% or more) between the inversion and traditional estimation methods due to the effects of viscous ice flow. The inverse method will help refine estimates of subglacial water transport and further constrain the role of subglacial hydrology in ice-sheet evolution.

The fluorescent dye dilution method for determining the liquid-water content in snow is based on measuring the concentration change of a solution when it is mixed with snow. Samples for analysis can be obtained rapidly and reliably, and, unlike calorimetric or equilibrium-temperature methods, field use requires no on-site data analysis.

Seismic imaging in 3-D holds great potential for improving our understanding of ice sheet structure and dynamics. Conducting 3-D imaging in remote areas is simplified by using lightweight and logistically straightforward sources. We report results from controlled seismic source tests carried out near the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide investigating the characteristics of two types of surface seismic sources, Poulter shots and detonating cord, for use in both 2-D and 3-D seismic surveys on glaciers. Both source types produced strong basal P-wave and S-wave reflections and multiples recorded in three components. The Poulter shots had a higher amplitude for low frequencies (<10 Hz) and comparable amplitude at high frequencies (>50 Hz) relative to the detonating cord. Amplitudes, frequencies, speed of source set-up, and cost all suggested Poulter shots to be the preferred surface source compared to detonating cord for future 2-D and 3-D seismic surveys on glaciers.

Previously reported experimental temperature data were used to compute the two components of the heat flux vector in the ice body adjacent to a crevasse in a glacier of the ice sheet of northern Greenland. Graphical differentiation techniques were employed. The computed components were used to synthesize values of the beat flux vector, including magnitude and direction. Improved accuracy was achieved over the previously reported technique of sketching heat flow lines orthogonal to the isotherms.

The wave of cold temperature, which begins to propagate into a snow field during the winter, may be considerably enhanced by the thermal blanketing of snow accumulating on the surface. This effect is discussed theoretically by means of calculations based on the mathematical theory of the conduction of heat in solids. The results of these calculations show that for an assumed steady velocity of accumulation at the rate of 4 meters/year or 8 meters/year, the winter cold wave should assume significantly larger proportions than in the absence of accumulation.

We quantify the surface elevation changes along Yala Glacier in Langtang Valley, Nepal Himalaya, since 1981 using geodetic methods to understand the recent evolution and current state of small debris-free glaciers across the region. We analyse differential global positioning system measurements and aerial stereo imagery that were acquired along Yala Glacier in 2007, 2009, 2012 and 2015 to generate digital elevation models for each calculation period. Continuous surface lowering has mainly been observed across the down-glacier area during the calculation periods, although a large degree of variability exists, with this lowering trend propagating up-glacier in recent years. The area-weighted glacier mass balances range from −0.98 ± 0.27 to −0.26 ± 0.30 m w.e. a−1 for the five calculation periods (1981–2007, 2007–2009, 2009–2012, 2012–2015 and 2007–2015). These calculated mass-balance data reveal that Yala Glacier has undergone accelerated mass loss since the late 2000s, which is consistent with the results of previous in situ measurement and remote-sensing studies.

The retreat of glaciers since 1927 in Cordillera Blanca has produced dangerous lakes at the front of many glaciers. All the known data, most of them unpublished, are reviewed. The known aluviones are listed, and those of Chavin, Quebrada Los Cedros and Artesoncocha described in full. In these three cases a breach in the front moraine came from big ice falls into the lake. The protective devices made on the outlets are described, as well as the effects of the big earthquake on 31 May 1970. In the case of Laguna Parón, which keeps its level thanks to infiltrations, the fluctuations of the discharge of the springs as related to the level of the lake from 1955 to 1969 are reported. The projects for lowering the level of Laguna Parón and for emptying Safuna Alta are described. The latter partially emptied in fact by piping after the earthquake, allowing a final solution.

In front of Laguna Parón there is a huge moraine which turns through 90° in the middle of the valley and with a narrow covered glacier on the top. It has been studied by electrical exploration, and using the displacements of 43 marked boulders on the glacier. Assuming a uniform balance on the glacier tongue and semi-elliptical cross-sections, it has been possible to estimate this balance and the glacier thickness. A great amount of the measured velocity comes from the creep of the moraine itself, which seems to be a kind of rock glacier, probably without interstitial ice. It must have taken all the Holocene to be formed. During its complex history a pro-glacial lake must have formed at some time, the rupture of which explains the crooked form.

We explain how preliminary results concerning the internal constitution of the big push moraine at Safuna were obtained in 1967. Cross-sections which were obtained later through electrical and seismic exploration and arduous borings are given. Under the lake Safuna Alta there exists a layer of dead ice which is probably a remnant from an old glacier advance and over which the active glacier slides, but this dead ice does not extend into the push moraine. Since 1950 Safuna Alta has formed, the glacier tongue has lowered by 0.8 m per year on average, and the big push moraine has moved and settled.

The annual balance on the glacier tongue was measured in 1968. It increases by 3.9 m of ice per 100 m in altitude. The discharge of ice near the lake and the annual balance further up-valley allow an estimate of the mean annual balance in the accumulation zone (between 4 850 and 6 020 m) at 2.30 m of water per year. Until now no annual precipitation higher than 1 m/year had been measured in Cordillera Blanca, but this Cordillera includes many meso-climates.

Eight successive moraines are found at Safuna. They are tentatively correlated with the eight existing between Huaraz and Laguna Llaca. Clapperton’s “group 4" was not formed during the 20th, but during the 17th century. His “group 3" is not from A.D. 1750-1800, but is rather 5000 to 7000 years old, according to the offset of Cordillera Blanca great fault.

This contribution is published in full as three papers in Journal of Glaciology, Vol. 18, No. 79.

Detailed account of the work to be undertaken by the International Glaciological Expedition to Greenland during 1959, together with brief notes on the previous researches which have led up to this work.

Seismic compressional-wave data from short refraction shooting carried out during the 1974–75 and 1976–77 seasons at J-9, the site of the Ross Ice Shelf Drilling Project, have been compared. Significant dissimilarities were found to exist between the two sets of data. The measurements were made at locations about 2 km apart, with three unreversed profiles 60° apart recorded during the 1976–77 season and one unreversed profile during the 1974–75 season. The resulting velocity–depth profiles, and hence the derived density–depth profiles, differ by as much as 8%, with the 1976–77 results indicating a maximum velocity, corresponding to solid ice, at a shallower depth than the 1974–75 data. Both profiles were subjected to the same analysis, and a comparison of travel-time curves shows the differences to be real. Densities measured on cores from a 100 m bore hole drilled in 1974–75 about 50 m from the center of the 1974–75 profile agree well with densities computed from that profile. The density difference is believed to be due to the passage of the ice through the high-stress system associated with the interaction between Ice Stream B, flowing in from the West Antarctic ice sheet, and the Ross Ice Shelf. A reversed refraction profile carried out at station B.C. about 30 km up-stream, shows evidence of dipping layers that may be similarly caused.