南极Lambert, Mellor和Fisher冰川的物质平衡及Amery冰架底部物质通量的估算

利用现场观测与遥感数据对Lambert, Mellor和Fisher冰川的物质平衡及其在Amery冰架的底部融化与冻结状况进行了估算. 结果表明, 澳大利亚组织的Lambert冰川盆地(LGB)考察路线的上游地区, Lambert与Mellor冰川分别为(3.9±2.1)和(2.1±2.4) Gt·a^-1的正平衡, 而Fisher冰川基本处于平衡状态. 上游地区总的正平衡为(5.9±4.9) Gt·a^-1. 考察路线以下, 3条冰川均处于负平衡, 总的负平衡为(-8.5±5.8) Gt·a^-1. 整个Lambert, Mellor和Fisher冰川均接近于平衡状态. 3条冰川总净平衡为(-2.6±6.5) Gt·a^-1. 前人认为GL线(1970年代初澳大利亚在LGB建立的冰川运动观测点的连线)以上的内陆盆地处于显著正平衡, 可能是因为过高地估算了总积累量, 并低估了穿过GL线的冰通量. 靠近Amery冰架南端着地线, 冰架底部的平均融化速率为(-23.0±3.5) m冰·a^-1, 向下游方向快速减小, 并在距冰架最南端约300 km处过渡为底部冻结. 沿3条冰川在Amery冰架的冰流带(flowband), 冻结速率约介于(0.5±0.1)~(1.5±0.2) m 冰·a^-1. 由于冰流带底部的融化, 流入冰架的内陆冰损失了大约80%±5%. 3条冰流带底部总融化和总冻结分别为(50.3±7.5)和(7.0±1.1) Gt 冰·a^-1, 这要比前人通过模拟和海洋观测估算的整个Amery冰架底部总融化和总冻结还要大很多.     

The Rapid Retreat of Jakobshavns Isbræ, West Greenland: Field Observations of 2005 and Structural Analysis of its Evolution

Jakobshavns Isbræ in West Greenland (terminus at ≈69° 10′ N/50° W), a major outlet glacier of the Greenland Ice Sheet and a continuously fast-moving ice stream, has long been the fastest moving and one of the most productive glaciers on Earth. It had been moving continuously at speeds of over 20 m/day with a stable front position throughout most of the latter half of the twentieth century, except for relatively small seasonal changes. In 2002, the ice stream apparently suddenly entered a phase of rapid retreat. The ice front started to break up, the floating tongue disintegrated, and the production of icebergs increased. In July 2005, we conducted an extensive aerial survey of Jakobshavns Isbræ to measure and document the present state of retreat compared to our previous field observations since 1996. We use an approach that combines structural analysis of deformation features with continuum mechanics to assess the kinematics and dynamics of glaciers, based on aerial imagery, satellite data and GPS measurements. Results from interpretation of ERS-SAR and ASTER data from 1995 to 2005 in combination with aerial imagery from 1996 to 2005 shed light on the question of changes versus stability and their causes in the Jakobshavns Isbræ dynamical system. The recently observed retreat of Jakobshavns Isbræ is attributed to climatic warming, rather than to an inherent change in the glaciodynamic system. Close to the retreating front, deformation structures are characteristic of extension and disintegration. Deformation provinces that do not border the retreating front have had the same deformation characteristics throughout the past decade (1996–2005).     

On the influence of kriging parameters on the cartographic output—A study in mapping subglacial topography

Geostatistics provides a suite of methods, summarized as kriging, to analyze a finite data set to describe a continuous property of the Earth. Kriging methods consist of moving window optimum estimation techniques, which are based on a least-squares principle and use a spatial structure function, usually the variogram. Applications of kriging techniques have become increasingly wide-spread, with ordinary kriging and universal kriging being the most popular ones. The dependence of the final map or model on the input, however, is not generally understood. Herein we demonstrate how changes in the kriging parameters and the neighborhood search affect the cartographic result. Principles are illustrated through a glaciological study. The objective is to map ice thickness and subglacial topography of Storglaciären, Kebnekaise Massif, northern Sweden, from several sets of radio-echo soundings and hot water drillings. New maps are presented.     

Variography of submarine morphology: Problems of deregularization, and cartographical implications

During the German Antarctic Expedition VI (leg 3, December 1987 to March 1988), bathymetric surveys were made in the Weddell Sea by the SEABEAM sonar system. For the first time geostatistical methods were applied in the SEABEAM-postprocessing. The investigations of variography that were necessary prior to the cartographical-geomorphological evaluation shed new light on classical geostatistical concerns. SEABEAM data provide a good example of a mean square, differentiable regionalized variable, where data are sampled over a two-dimensional support due to the technique of the sonar device. By deregularizations of the sample variograms, spatial continuity can be shown to be a property of seafloor depth as well as a point variable. The results are discussed in a sedimentological context. As an application of the regional variogram analyses, large-scale kriged bathymetric maps are presented.