Articles | Volume 11, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-669-2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-669-2017
Research article
 | 
02 Mar 2017
Research article |  | 02 Mar 2017

Liquid water content in ice estimated through a full-depth ground radar profile and borehole measurements in western Greenland

Joel Brown, Joel Harper, and Neil Humphrey

Related authors

Glaciological settings and recent mass balance of Blåskimen Island in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica
Vikram Goel, Joel Brown, and Kenichi Matsuoka
The Cryosphere, 11, 2883–2896, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2883-2017,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2883-2017, 2017
Short summary
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
The Cryosphere, 10, 811–823, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-811-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-811-2016, 2016
Short summary

Related subject area

Ice Sheets
Probabilistic projections of the Amery Ice Shelf catchment, Antarctica, under high ice-shelf basal melt conditions
Sanket Jantre, Matthew J. Hoffman, Nathan M. Urban, Trevor Hillebrand, Mauro Perego, Stephen Price, and John D. Jakeman
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1677,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1677, 2024
Short summary
Reconstructing dynamics of the Baltic Ice Stream Complex during deglaciation of the Last Scandinavian Ice Sheet
Izabela Szuman, Jakub Z. Kalita, Christiaan R. Diemont, Stephen J. Livingstone, Chris D. Clark, and Martin Margold
The Cryosphere, 18, 2407–2428, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2407-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2407-2024, 2024
Short summary
The influence of firn-layer material properties on surface crevasse propagation in glaciers and ice shelves
Theo Clayton, Ravindra Duddu, Tim Hageman, and Emilio Martinez-Paneda
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-660,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-660, 2024
Short summary
Assessing the potential for ice flow piracy between the Totten and Vanderford glaciers, East Antarctica
Felicity S. McCormack, Jason L. Roberts, Bernd Kulessa, Alan Aitken, Christine F. Dow, Lawrence Bird, Benjamin K. Galton-Fenzi, Katharina Hochmuth, Richard S. Jones, Andrew N. Mackintosh, and Koi McArthur
The Cryosphere, 17, 4549–4569, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4549-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4549-2023, 2023
Short summary
Stagnant ice and age modelling in the Dome C region, Antarctica
Ailsa Chung, Frédéric Parrenin, Daniel Steinhage, Robert Mulvaney, Carlos Martín, Marie G. P. Cavitte, David A. Lilien, Veit Helm, Drew Taylor, Prasad Gogineni, Catherine Ritz, Massimo Frezzotti, Charles O'Neill, Heinrich Miller, Dorthe Dahl-Jensen, and Olaf Eisen
The Cryosphere, 17, 3461–3483, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3461-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3461-2023, 2023
Short summary

Cited articles

Arcone, S. A.: Numerical studies of the radiation patterns of resistively loaded dipoles, J. Appl. Geophys., 33, 39–52, https://doi.org/10.1016/0926-9851(95)90028-4, 1995.
Aschwanden, A., Bueler, E., Khroulev, C., and Blatter, H.: An enthalpy formulation for glaciers and ice sheets, J. Glaciol., 58, 441–457, https://doi.org/10.3189/2012JoG11J088, 2012.
Bamber, J. L., Griggs, J. A., Hurkmans, R. T. W. L., Dowdeswell, J. A., Gogineni, S. P., Howat, I., Mouginot, J., Paden, J., Palmer, S., Rignot, E., and Steinhage, D.: A new bed elevation dataset for Greenland, The Cryosphere, 7, 499–510, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-499-2013, 2013.
Bradford, J. H. and Harper, J. T.: Wave field migration as a tool for estimating spatially continuous radar velocity and water content in glaciers, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L08502, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004GL021770, 2005.
Bradford, J. H., Nichols, J., Mikesell, T. D., and Harper, J. T.: Continuous profiles of electromagnetic wave velocity and water content in glaciers: an example from Bench Glacier, Alaska, USA, Ann. Glaciol., 50, 1–9, https://doi.org/10.3189/172756409789097540, 2009.
Download
Short summary
We use ground-penetrating radar surveys in conjunction with borehole depth and temperature data to estimate the liquid water content (wetness) of glacial ice in the ablation zone of an outlet glacier on the western side of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Our results show that the wetness of a warm basal ice layer is approximately 2.9 % to 4.6 % in our study region. This high level of wetness requires special attention when modelling ice dynamics or estimating ice thickness in the region.