Publication: Advances in Polar Science (APS). Antarctic Research, Vol. 2, No. 1, 1~9, June 1991
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Author: Qin Dahe and N.W. Young
CNARC member: Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC)
Abstract: 14 shallow snow / firn cores were taken by drilling with the PICO lightweight hand coring auger on Law Dome and Wilkes LAnd along a line approximately 111°E longitude between 66°S and 74°S latitude. 5 of these cores, BJ, LJ24, GC30, GC40 and GC46, 20-30 m deep, are studied in detail in this paper. The densities of snow / firn were measured in a cold room at temperature between -18°C and -14°C by taking consecutive core samples and weighing the mass of each sample whose volume was known. The characteristics of the initial densification (till a density of 550 kg / m3) including the variation of snow / firn density with the increasing depth, densification rate of snow / firn and the compactive viscosity coefficient of snow / firn are studied, and the factors affecting this initial densification process are discussed. From the obtained measurements, a relationship between compactive viscosity coefficient of snow / firn and mean annual temperature is found in case p = 550 kg / m3. For snow / firn on Wilkes Land, the relationship we found at a mean annual temperature below -25°C (i.e. no melting features are present in stratigraphy) is very similar to that found by Nishimura and others (1983) on Mizuho Plateau, Antarctica.
Key words: Wilke Land snowfirn densification
