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

主要研究人员将获得为期两年的资助，开发将仪器探针插入阿拉斯加黑急流冰川下几米深的活跃变形土层的技术。最近的观察发现，在冰川最活跃的部分下面有一层4到7米的土层，冰川表面运动的近三分之二是由于在土层底部几米处发生的过程。在冰-冰界面处，滑动可以忽略不计。在其他冰川下已经观察到，在许多冰川中，它可能会影响它们的流动模式。因此，建立一种研究厚的、活性的耕地流动的方法具有重要的意义。首席调查员将使用热水钻头钻到钻台顶部，然后用重型井下锤将探头打入钻台，无需使用电线即可接收数据。目前，还没有足够的方法来研究在厚的、快速移动的冰下的原地丘的行为。这项研究工作将发展出进行这些基本测量的手段。

AbstractOPP-00-85085HarrisonEchelmeyerThe 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.