USAP-DC

This award supports a project to investigate fabrics with ground-based radar measurements near the Ross/Amundsen Sea ice-flow divide where a deep ice core will be drilled. The alignment of crystals in ice (crystal-orientation fabric) has an important effect on ice deformation. As ice deforms, anisotropic fabrics are produced, which, in turn, influence further deformation. Measurement of ice fabric variations can help reveal the deformation history of the ice and indicate how the ice will deform in the future. Ice cores provide opportunities to determine a vertical fabric profile, but horizontal variations of fabrics remain unknown. Remote sensing with ice-penetrating radar is the only way to do that over large areas. Preliminary results show that well-established polarimetric methods can detect the degree of horizontal anisotropy of fabrics and their orientation, even when they are nearly vertical-symmetric fabrics. In conjunction with ice deformation history, our first mapping of ice fabrics will contribute to modeling ice flow near the future ice core site. The project will train a graduate student and provide research experiences for two under graduate students both in field and laboratory. The project will contribute to ongoing West Antarctic ice sheet program efforts to better understand the impact of the ice sheet on global sea level rise. This project also supports an international collaboration between US and Japanese scientists.

Person	Role
Matsuoka, Kenichi	Investigator
Power, Donovan	Co-Investigator
Fujita, Shuji	Co-Investigator
Raymond, Charles	Co-Investigator
Rasmussen, Al	Co-Investigator

Antarctic Glaciology

Award # 0440847

NSIDC-0496_1
WAISDivide_Polarimetric_RadarData
NSIDC-0503_1
WAISDivide_Velocity_Strain

None in the Database

Repository	Title (link)	Format(s)	Status
USAP-DC	Polarimetric Radar Data from the Ross and Amundsen Sea Ice Flow Divide, West Antarctica	None	exist
USAP-DC	GPS-Measured Ice Velocities and Strain Data from the Ross and Amundsen Sea Ice Flow Divide, West Antarctica	None	exist

1. Matsuoka, K., Power, D., Fujita, S., & Raymond, C. F. (2012). Rapid development of anisotropic ice-crystal-alignment fabrics inferred from englacial radar polarimetry, central West Antarctica. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 117(F3), n/a–n/a. (doi:10.1029/2012jf002440)