The Rolls on the Ellesmere Ice Shelf

Abstract

Surface rolls are characteristic features of both the Ellesmere ice shelf and the floating ice islands derived from it. These surface features are described and their origin and evolution discussed. Various theories of origin are considered which involve such forces as pressure from the polar pack, movement of glaciers, temperature variations, tidal movements and wind. Of these, wind action appears the most likely to have caused the rolls, and it is suggested that their development was analogous to the formation of seif dunes in desert. "They should be regarded as fossil snow dunes that have been perpetuated by the annual drainage of melt-water."