Measured velocities and ice flow in Wilkes Land, Antarctica

Abstract

Ice velocity, surface elevation, and ice thickness were measured along oversnow traverse routes in the sector of Wilkes Land, East Antarctica, bounded by long. 93° and 131°E, and the coast and lat. 75°S. The velocity measurements show that the ice flow varies smoothly in both direction and magnitude over a distance scale of at least 20 times the ice thickness, and that it is in the direction of the surface slope averaged over a similar distance scale. A comparison of the mean horizontal shear strain-rate with the driving stress supports a power-law relation for the bulk rheology of the ice sheet with an exponent between 3 and 3.2