HR: 1340h
AN: C33C-0361    [Abstracts]
TI: Kilometer-scale texture of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet
AU: * Smith, B E
EM: ben@ess.washington.edu
AF: University of Washington Department of Earth and Space Sciences, 310 Condon Hall Box 351310, Seattle, WA 98195 United States
AB: Although it is remarkably flat in comparison to other geologic surfaces, the ice-surface of West Antarctica has a surface texture at linear scales of a few kilometers and larger. This texture has been accurately measured with NASA's GLAS instrument; I present a spectral analysis that characterizes how the kilometer-scale texture of the surface varies across the ice sheet. I distinguish surface spectra that reflect fast-flowing ice from spectra that reflect creeping ice that is frozen to its bed, and demonstrate how the spectral characteristics can be explained by mathematical modeling of ice dynamics in combination with an understanding of the statistics of land surfaces. This analysis presents a powerful tool for making educated guesses about the flow regime in parts of Antarctica where it is not as well understood as it is in West Antarctica.
DE: 8194 Instruments and techniques
DE: 1863 Snow and ice (1827)
SC: Cryosphere [C]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting