Geodetic measurements used to estimate ice transfer during Bering Glacier surge

Eos Science News
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Abstract

The application of geodetic measurements to glacial research has found a new testing ground: near a surging Alaskan glacier. A set of geodetic measurements collected adjacent to the Bagley Icefield (Figure 1) and along the Gulf of Alaska (Figure 2) are being used to estimate the effects of the Bering Glacier surge that began in the spring of 1993. When ice is removed from a glacier's reservoir during a surge, its surface lowers by tens or hundreds of meters and ice is added to the receiving area, where it thickens and advances.

The dramatic changes in a surging glacier's extent and thickness should result in elastic deformation of the solid Earth. At Bering Glacier, calculations show that ice transfer may have caused up to 17 cm of the solid Earth to subside. Although recent surges at the Bering and Variegated Glaciers have been well documented, little is known about most surges, particularly about what happens in the upper reaches of the glaciers.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Geodetic measurements used to estimate ice transfer during Bering Glacier surge
Series title Eos Science News
DOI 10.1029/95EO00171
Volume 76
Issue 29
Year Published 1995
Language English
Publisher American Geophysical Union
Description 4 p.
First page 289
Last page 290
Country United States
State Alaska
Other Geospatial Bagley Icefield, Bering Glacier, Gulf of Alaska
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