Results From The Amery Ice Shelf Project

Abstract

The major results from a comprehensive study of the Amery Ice Shelf are presented, following the work of a wintering expedition in 1968 and supplemented by further measurements during the summer seasons of 1969 to 1971. The Programme included ice-core drilling, oversnow surveys for ice movement and optical levelling, ice-thickness sounding, and measurements of snow accumulation. The new data obtained provide the basis for a more accurate assessment of the mass balance and dynamics of the ice shelf than was possible from the earlier surveys. The results indicate a substantial growth of basal ice under the ice shelf inland where the ice thickness is greater than 450 m. Further towards the ice front the high strain thinning is approximately balanced by the horizontal ice advection. The velocity distribution over the ice shelf is primarily governed by a substantial surface slope towards the ice front and high restraining shear stress along the sides.