(Article of periodic en Anglais - 1998)

Document title

Sublimation of ice through sediment in Beacon Valley, Antarctica

published at : Special issue : the geomorphic and climatic significance of rock glaciers

Authors(s) and Affiliation(s)

HINDMARSH R.C.A. ; VAN DER WATEREN F.M. ; VERBERS A.L.L.M. ;

Abstract

The time-dependent physics of ice sublimation through thin layers of till is considered, to determine whether sublimation could be sufficiently slow to permit the preservation of ice for 8 MA in the Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Steady-state models suggest that sublimation is rate-controlled by vapor transport. A time-dependent model coupling vapor concentration, air pressure, temperature and ice concentration is formulated, and the resulting equations solved non-linearly. The results mean either that vapor transport is being slowed down by some unconsidered physical process or that the ice is much younger than 8 Ma