Long term data from strain meters placed on the Erebus Glacier Tongue and surrounding sea ice measuring travelling flexural waves and strain measurements

Using a strain meter with a 500mm gauge length, the elastic and plastic strain of the Erebus Glacier tongue was measured as it moves in response to waves and swells present in the surrounding sea. Two remote stations were installed on either side of the Erebus Ice Tongue about 5km from the snout. The strain meters were mounted about 2m below the glacier surface and the results were transmitted back to Arrival Heights. The calving events of the glacier tongue were hypothesized to be every 30-40 years suggesting an event to occur during this study. To observe this unique calving event and obtain detailed information of the elastic plastic strain of the tongue, two strainmeters were buried 2m below the surface, approx 3.5 km from the snout and 150m in from the edges. Due to limited resources the strain meters operate for 30 minutes every twelve hours (and are designed to be in operation for 6 years) and the data is sent to Scott base and stored. In the 86-87 season, a radio telemetry system was installed to enable measurements to be made on demand. All equipment was removed in the 89-90 season. The travelling waves in the Erebus Glacier Tongue and surrounding sea ice was measured (1989-90 season) by placing six strain meter instruments at 1km intervals on the tongue and on the sea ice. The recording instruments were a 6 channel chart recorder and 8 channel Maclab A-D system connected to a MacIntosh Plus computer. 17 hours of data were collected for the various combinations of 6 strain meters to determine the source and speed of travelling flexural waves in the Erebus Glacier Tongue.