Complex fabric development revealed by englacial seismic reflectivity: Jakobshavn Isbræ, Greenland

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Issue Date
2008-05-21Author
Horgan, H. J.
Anandakrishnan, Sridhar
Alley, Richard B.
Peters, L. E.
Tsoflias, Georgios P.
Voigt, D. E.
Winberry, J. P.
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, publisher version
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
High-resolution reflection seismic data from Jakobshavn Isbræ, Greenland, reveal complex fabric development. Abundant englacial reflectivity occurs for approximately half the thickness of the ice (the lower half), and disruption of the englacial reflectors occurs in the lower 10–15% of the ice-thickness. These depths correspond to the higher impurity-content, and more easily deformed, ice from the Younger Dryas and Last Glacial Maximum to Stage-3. We conclude that the reflectivity results from contrasting seismic velocities due to changes in the crystal orientation fabric of the ice, and suggest that these fabric changes are caused by variations in impurity loading and subsequent deformation history. These findings emphasize the difference between ice-divide and ice-stream crystal orientation fabrics and have implications for predictive ice sheet modeling.
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This is the published version. Copyright 2008 American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
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- Geology Scholarly Works [247]
Citation
Horgan, H. J., S. Anandakrishnan, R. B. Alley, L. E. Peters, G. P. Tsoflias, D. E. Voigt, and J. P. Winberry (2008), Complex fabric development revealed by englacial seismic reflectivity: Jakobshavn Isbræ, Greenland, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L10501, http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2008GL033712.
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