Development and Placement of Instrumented Probes for Studies of Deforming Subglacial Till

University Of Alaska Fairbanks Campus, Fairbanks AK

Investigators

Abstract

Abstract OPP-00-85085 Harrison Echelmeyer The Principal Investigators will be funded for two years to develop techniques for inserting instrumented probes into several meters of actively deforming till under the Black Rapids Glacier in Alaska. Recent observations have identified a four to seven meter till layer under the most active part of the Glacier, and that almost two-thirds of the surface motion of the glacier is due to processes acting in the bottom few meters of the till. There is negligible sliding at the ice-till interface. Till has been observed under other glaciers, and in many of them, it may affect their flow pattern. Therefore, it is important to develop a method for studying the flow of thick, active till. The Principal Investigators will drill to the to the top of the till using a hot-water drill and then drive the probes into the till with a heavy down-hole hammer and receive data without the use of wires. At the present time, there is no adequate way to investigate the behavior of tills in situ under thick, rapidly moving ice. This research effort would develop the means to make these essential measurements.