The Determination of the Thickness of a Glacier from Measurements of the Value of Gravity

Abstract

Abstract A method is described of determining the thickness of a valley glacier from measurements of gravity. On a Norwegian glacier approximately 4 km. long and km. wide values of gravity were measured at points on four transverse lines. For comparison, values were measured at points on three lines in the valley below the snout of the glacier. The positions and altitudes of these gravity stations were determined by triangulation. After making corrections for the altitudes of stations and for the effect of the valley walls, the differences between the gravity values obtained on the glacier and those obtained in the valley below the glacier are attributed to the thickness of the ice. Four transverse sections of the glacier, obtained in this way, are given. Errors in the estimates of ice thickness should not exceed 20 per cent on the two lower cross-sections, nor 40 per cent on the upper two.