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https://hdl.handle.net/11681/5932| Title: | Depth-time-temperature relationships of ice crystal growth in polar glaciers |
| Authors: | National Science Foundation (U.S.). Office of Polar Programs. Gow, A. J. (Anthony Jack) |
| Keywords: | Antarctica Glaciers Ice crystals Glaciology Ice Glacier ice Greenland Land ice Firn Sintering EPOLAR |
| Publisher: | Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (U.S.) Engineer Research and Development Center (U.S.) |
| Series/Report no.: | Research report (Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (U.S.)) ; 300. |
| Description: | Research Report Abstract: The growth of ice crystals as a function of depth and time in polar firn and glacier ice has been investigated at a number of locations in Antarctica and Greenland. Thin sections of snow and ice were used to measure crystal size variations which showed, in all cases, that crystal size increases essentially linearly with the age of samples. Crystal growth rates are strongly temperature dependent. At Camp Century, Greenland, where the firn temperature is -24°C, crystals grow approximately 23 times faster than at Plateau Station, Antarctica, where the in situ temperature is -57°C. Extrapolation of the existing data indicates that crystal growth rates in polar firn and ice could be expected to vary by about two orders of magnitude over the temperature range -60°C to -15°C. Examination of the changes in the pore-crystal structure relationships to a dpeth of 100 m at Camp Century shows that these changes closely resemble those occuring in the full-scale isothermal sintering of powder compacts. |
| Rights: | Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/11681/5932 |
| Appears in Collections: | Research Report |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRREL-Research-Report-300.pdf | 8.16 MB | Adobe PDF |  View/Open |