Lambert Glacier Basin Traverse 1989/90 summer season survey report

Report by survey staff on the Lambert Glacier Basin Traverse in summer of 1989/90. Includes original photographic prints.The Lambert Glacier Basin Traverse was one of the projects included in the 1989/90 summer programme of the Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition (ANARE) that involved significant survey involvement. The project is an important part of the on-going research programme of the Glaciology section, Antarctic Division.The Lambert Glacier is the largest glacier on Earth. Lying in MacRobertson Land of the Australian Antarctic Territory it drains an area almost half the size of Australia. Recent programs by the Antarctic Division have investigated the glacier itself, however to achieve the overall objective of establishing the Mass Budget of the Lambert system and all its related mechanisms, a study of the catchment was necessary. To this end the first of a series of glaciological traverses was undertaken in the 1989/1990 summer season to make various measurements including ice movement, ice thickness, gravity, magnetometer and snow accumulation.The over snow traverse was effected using three specially built D7H tractors hauling a series of sleds for transport and manned by a party of six. In two and a half months the party, often as two separate units, travelled eight hundred kilometres into the interior of MacRobertson Land along the 2500 metre contour in temperatures ranging between -15 and -38 degrees centigrade.The first priorities were to set up and accurately position ice movement stations to establish rates of flow into the glacier, and to depot fuel to facilitate further traversing over the next few years. Geodetic measurements were effected using four WM102 dual frequency GPS receivers and two MX1502 Transit receivers in a survey network carefully planned to overcome a series of anticipated problems, many being peculiar to operations in polar regions.

本报告由1989/1990年夏季兰伯特冰川盆地穿越考察的勘测人员撰写，内含原始冲印照片。兰伯特冰川盆地穿越考察是澳大利亚国家南极研究探险队（Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition, ANARE）1989/1990年夏季项目的组成部分，该项目涉及大量勘测工作，同时也是南极分部冰川学部门持续研究计划的重要一环。兰伯特冰川是全球规模最大的冰川，坐落于澳大利亚南极领地的麦克罗伯逊地（MacRobertson Land），其汇水覆盖面积几乎相当于澳大利亚国土面积的一半。此前南极分部的多项研究已针对该冰川本身开展勘测，但为达成明确兰伯特冰川系统质量收支及其相关作用机制的整体目标，对其汇水区开展系统研究必不可少。为此，1989/1990年夏季启动了系列冰川学穿越考察的首期任务，完成多项核心测量，包括冰体运动速率、冰厚、重力场、磁力观测以及积雪积累量等。本次雪地穿越考察采用三台特制D7H型拖拉机牵引多台雪橇承担运输任务，考察队由6名队员组成。在两个半月的行程中，考察队通常分为两个作业小组，沿海拔2500米的等高线向麦克罗伯逊地内陆行进800公里，作业环境温度介于-15℃至-38℃之间。本次考察的首要任务为设立并精确定位冰体运动监测站，以测算冰体流入该冰川的速率，同时储备燃料以支持未来数年的后续穿越考察工作。大地测量工作采用4台WM102双频全球定位系统（Global Positioning System, GPS）接收机与2台MX1502型Transit接收机，通过精心规划的勘测网络克服了一系列预期难题——其中多数难题均为极地作业所特有。