Abstract.To better understand the spatio-temporal variability of the glaciological environment in Dronning Maud Land (DML), East Antarctica, a 2800-km-long Japanese-Swedish traverse was carried out. The route includes ice divides between two ice-coring sites at Dome Fuji and EPICA DML. We determined the surface mass balance (SMB) averaged over various time scales in the late Holocene based on studies of snow pits and firn cores, in addition to radar data. We find that the large-scale distribution of the SMB depends on the surface elevation and continentality, and that the SMB differs between the windward and leeward sides of ice divides for strong-wind events. We suggest that the SMB is highly influenced by interactions between the large-scale surface topography of ice divides and the wind field of strong-wind events that are often associated with high-precipitation events. Local variations in the SMB are governed by the local surface topography, which is influenced by the bedrock topography. In the eastern part of DML, the accumulation rate in the second half of the 20th century is found to be higher by ∼15 % Correspondence to: S. Fujita (sfujita@nipr.ac.jp) than averages over longer periods of 722 a or 7.9 ka before AD 2008. A similar increasing trend has been reported for many inland plateau sites in Antarctica with the exception of several sites on the leeward side of the ice divides.
Abstract. In order to better understand the spatial distribution of subglacial environments, ground-based radar profiling data were analyzed for a total distance of ∼ 3300 km across Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. The relationship between geometrically corrected bed returned power [P c bed ] dB in decibels and ice thickness H was examined. When H is smaller than a critical value that varies according to location, [P c bed ] dB tends to decrease relatively smoothly with increasing H , which is explicable primarily by the cumulative effect of dielectric attenuation within the ice. However, at locations where H is larger than the critical H values, anomalous increases and fluctuations in [P c bed ] dB were observed, regardless of the choice of radar frequency or radar-pulse width. In addition, the amplitude of the fluctuations often range 10 ∼ 20 dB. We argue that the anomalous increases are caused by higher bed reflectivity associated with the existence of subglacial water. We used these features to delineate frozen and temperate beds. Approximately two-thirds of the investigated area was found to have a temperate bed. The beds of the inland part of the ice sheet tend to be temperate, with the exception of subglacial high mountains. In contrast, the beds of coastal areas tend to be frozen, with the exception of fast-flowing ice on the subglacial lowland or troughs. We argue that this new analytical method can be applied to other regions.
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