The structural glaciology, ice marginal landforms, sediments and movement of the Suess Glacier, Taylor Valley, Antarctica

The structural glaciology, ice marginal landforms, sediments and movement of the Suess Glacier, Taylor Valley, Antarctica was investigated over several seasons. Preliminary work was completed with observation of the structural glaciology. Ice cores were sampled from the moraines adjacent to the Suess glacier. The structure and sedimentology was recorded. Samples of ice from the basal debris zone were taken and examined for crystallography, chemical composition, gas content and isotopic composition. Ice samples were also cut from the foot of the glacier cliff and recovered from the surface of the glacier and analysed to determine debris concentrations, recover sediment within the ice and to store liquid samples (5L) for chemical analysis. Direct observations of the composition, structure and motion of the ice close to the glacier bed were examined. Basal ice structures were mapped onto graph paper and ice movement was monitored by excavating a 24m long tunnel at the base of the glacier. Ice movement was measured using plumb lines, displacement transducers (left in the tunnel over winter) and (over 20) strain arrays of bolts mounted in the tunnel walls, re-measured in subsequent seasons. The strength of the basal ice and material at the base of the glacier was examined with shear tests. A set of cores was drilled from the glacier ice, basal ice and glacier substrate for laboratory triaxial tests. A 4m high gallery was cut in the tunnel to expose the entire basal zone. Two complete sets of blocks were sampled and analysed for the gas and isotopic signatures of the ice and the base cations and chlorides present. A glacier core was drilled from the surface to the base, approximately 50m long, but the core did not penetrate the glacier bed. Four ice cores were drilled at different location on Lake Popplewell, the ice-dammed lake of the Suess Glacier. The cores were analysed for stable isotopes, major ions, total gas content and gas composition and ice textural and structural studies were also performed. Laser scanning of the termini of the glacier was undertaken to characterize the glacier apron, measure the glacier cliff, calculate glacier cliff movement and create a 3D model of the glacier margin. Some of the work undertaken on this glacier was compared with work carried out through another Antarctic program on the Meserve, LaCroix, Clark and Canada Glaciers.