Glaciological studies near the Soer Rondane Mountains, East Antarctica

Abstract

In the area west of Mizuho Plateau, outflow of the ice sheet is hindered by a chain of mountains (Sor Rondane, Belgica and Yamato Mountains etc.) lying along the coast of the continent and ice shelves are developing at the margin of the ice sheet. Therefore the ice sheet geomorphology and dynamical behavior in this area are quite different from those on the Mizuho Plateau. In order to describe the response of the East Antarctic ice sheet to climatic change, we need to know the influence of the presence of mountains on stability of the ice sheet. This glaciological study aims to investigate whether the ice sheet and the ice shelf in this area are now increasing or decreasing in size possibly, in response to atmospheric warming, how far this part of the ice sheet departs from a steady state, and how the influence of climatic change is left inside the ice sheet and the ice shelf. For this purpose the following studies were performed in 1988 and 1989. 1) A series of shallow drillings along a selected flow line upstream of the Sor Rondane Mountains to Breid Bay. 2) Surface flow velocity, strain and mass balance measurements on the flow line. 3) Monitoring of a valley glacier in the Sor Rondane Mountains.