Articles | Volume 10, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-811-2016
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-811-2016
Research article
 | 
15 Apr 2016
Research article |  | 15 Apr 2016

Constraining variable density of ice shelves using wide-angle radar measurements

Reinhard Drews, Joel Brown, Kenichi Matsuoka, Emmanuel Witrant, Morgane Philippe, Bryn Hubbard, and Frank Pattyn

Viewed

Total article views: 3,612 (including HTML, PDF, and XML)
HTML PDF XML Total BibTeX EndNote
2,090 1,323 199 3,612 169 174
  • HTML: 2,090
  • PDF: 1,323
  • XML: 199
  • Total: 3,612
  • BibTeX: 169
  • EndNote: 174
Views and downloads (calculated since 21 Oct 2015)
Cumulative views and downloads (calculated since 21 Oct 2015)

Cited

Saved (final revised paper)

Saved (preprint)

Latest update: 23 Nov 2024
Download
Short summary
The thickness of ice shelves is typically inferred using hydrostatic equilibrium which requires knowledge of the firn density. Here, we infer density from wide-angle radar using a novel algorithm including traveltime inversion and ray tracing. We find that firn is denser inside a 2 km wide ice-shelf channel which is confirmed by optical televiewing of two boreholes. Such horizontal density variations must be accounted for when using the hydrostatic ice thickness for determining basal melt rate.