3.1. The challenge of basal inference

All glacier motion depends heavily on processes at the base, but the base is difficult to observe directly, except in a few widely distributed boreholes. Over extended areas, parameters describing basal characteristics must be inferred using inverse theory. Solving an inverse problem for basal characteristics requires data and a forward algorithm that describes the mechanics of ice flow. For a glacier, we are typically limited to surface data (e.g. topography, velocities, temperatures and accumulation rates) borehole data (e.g. shear deformation, ice properties and temperature) and remotely sensed data (e.g. ice-penetrating radar profiles). The forward model must be a well-defined analytical or numerical algorithm, describing physical processes in which estimates of the desired basal parameters can be used in order to predict values of the observed surface data.

Reference Van der Veen and WhillansVan der Veen and Whillans (1989a,b) advanced the estimation of basal properties from surface measurements by developing a direct procedure to calculate basal shear stresses and velocities at depth, based on force balance, a constitutive law for ice and an assumption of depth-invariant strain rates. However, Reference Whillans and Van der VeenWhillans and Van der Veen (1993) found that their calculated basal drag could sometimes push the glacier downstream rather than resisting sliding motion. They rejected several possible explanations for this apparently unphysical result, including data errors, depth-variable strain rates and stiffness variability due to spatial variations in firn depth or crevasse distributions. They were unable to exclude stress-bridging effects or rheological variations related to the assumed form of the flow law (e.g. crystal anisotropy effects). Reference LliboutryLliboutry (1995) suggested that the effect could be real and caused by warm, soft, near-basal ice forced by pressure gradients to flow rapidly through the gaps between bedrock bumps and unbending cold and stiff overlying ice. Although the process of capped extrusion flow (Reference WaddingtonWaddington, 2010) has been observed (e.g. Reference CarolCarol, 1947; Reference Hooke, Holmlund and IversonHooke and others, 1987) and modeled (e.g. Reference GudmundssonGudmundsson, 1997a,b), Reference Whillans and Van der VeenWhillans and Van der Veen (1995) showed that the forces it could create would not significantly alter their inferred negative shear stresses.

Reference MacAyealMacAyeal (1997) subsequently showed that the negative basal stresses arose from a failure to include small but significant higher-order terms in the inferred velocity pattern, i.e. the assumption of uniform strain rate was unphysical for flow over bumps or sticky spots (e.g. Reference Balise and RaymondBalise and Raymond, 1985; Reference GudmundssonGudmundsson, 2003). With the realization that inference of basal properties from surface data could be an ill-posed problem, it became necessary to frame this as an inverse problem, in which the data are not fit exactly, in order to ensure physically reasonable solutions.

Reference MacAyealMacAyeal (1992, Reference MacAyeal1993) and Reference MacAyeal, Bindschadler and ScambosMacAyeal and others (1995) introduced control methods to infer a basal-friction parameter from surface-velocity data. Control methods have been used subsequently to infer basal shear stresses (e.g. Reference Joughin, Ayeal and TulaczykJoughin and others, 2004) and slipperiness and bed topography (e.g. Reference Vieli and PayneVieli and Payne, 2003; Reference Goldberg and SergienkoGoldberg and Sergienko, 2011). Using surface elevation and velocity data, Reference Thorsteinsson, Raymond, Gudmundsson, Bindschadler, Vornberger and JoughinThorsteinsson and others (2003) applied perturbation methods to separate bed topography from bed lubrication on MacAyeal Ice Stream, Antarctica. Reference Maxwell, Truffer, Avdonin and StueferMaxwell and others (2008) solved an inverse problem for basal stress and velocity by reformulating an iterative series of well-posed forward problems. Reference Raymond and GudmundssonRaymond and Gudmundsson (2009) and Reference Pralong and GudmundssonPralong and Gudmundsson (2011) used a Bayesian approach to infer bedrock topography and slipperiness under ice streams. Reference Petra, Zhu, Stadler, Hughes and GhattasPetra and others (2012) summarized previous work to infer basal properties from surface data using inverse approaches, and presented an efficient adjoint-based algorithm to infer basal properties and the Glen flow law exponent, n, with a three-dimensional full-Stokes flow model.

The goal of our inverse problem is also to infer basal properties from surface data; however, we address flow on a much smaller, colder and slower glacier. Furthermore, rather than investigating an interface, we seek properties of a layer of distinct basal ice that may exceed 10% or more of the total glacier thickness. We present a general inverse procedure for this type of problem before applying the method to Taylor Glacier (based on concepts described more fully by Reference Waddington, Neumann, Koutnik and MorseWaddington and others, 2007).

We infer basal-ice thickness, λ(x), enhancement factor for basal ice, E _B(x), and enhancement factor for overlying clean ice, E _C(x), along a flowband to the terminus of Taylor Glacier. These unknown properties comprise a model-parameter set, m = [E _B(x), E _C(x), λ(x)], along a flowband defined by horizontal position x.

The data for the inverse problem are discrete measurements, , of the surface horizontal velocity profile, , and discrete measurements, , of the ablation-rate profile, , following the flowband. These observations can be combined into a single data vector, . The flowband width, W(x), and the depth to the top of the debrisrich basal ice, h(x), we accepted as given by velocity azimuths, syrface slopes and ground-penetrationg radar (GPR).

With three profiles of unknown parameters, m = [E _B(x), E _C(x), λ(x)], to be inferred from two (potentially sparse) datasets, , and , the problem is under-determined. Therefore, we need to impose some regularization on the parameters in order to obtain a unique solution. The options we consider include smoothness constraints on some or all of the parameters and preconceptions or limits on the parameters based on other studies. Obtaining a unique solution is further challenged by loss of basal information as ice thickness increases (Reference Bahr, Pfeffer and MeierBahr and others, 1994).

3.2. Forward model

The forward algorithm must produce modeled estimates, , of all the observed quantities that form the data vector, o ^(d), when given a parameter vector, m.

Because the top of the basal ice is relatively flat (Fig. 4), the ice thickness varies slowly and the ice temperature is close to isothermal, we base our forward algorithm on the isothermal shallow-ice approximation (SIA). The z-axis is vertical (z = 0 at the base of the debris-rich ice) and the x-axis is horizontal following the flowband (Fig. 5).

Fig. 4.

Radar profile of transect along flowband from Nirvana to Grace. (a) The unmigrated radar data. The thin blue horizontal line shows the elevation of the surface of Benchmark TP01 on the shore of Lake Bonney for reference (73.44 m a.s.l. and 18.39 ITRF-93). (b) Our interpretation: red line shows the reflector, which we interpret as the bottom of the clean ice assuming this reflector obscures any reflection from the bottom of the basal ice.

Fig. 5.

The geometry of the flowband model, showing surface elevation profile, S(x), clean-ice thickness, h(x), top of the basal ice, D(x), thickness of the basal ice, λ(x), bottom of the basal ice, B(x), and flowband width, W(x).

Modeled surface velocity,

The surface velocity, , can be calculated from the flowband geometry and m:

(2)

where H(x) = [h(x) + λ(x)] is the total glacier thickness, U(x, z) is the vertical profile of horizontal velocity for ‘standard’ Holocene ice with thickness H(x) and E = 1, and E _B and E _C are the enhancement factors for the basal ice and the overlying clean (meteoric) ice, respectively. Using the SIA, the velocity, U(x, z), of clean, Holocene ice at height z can be written as

(3)

where U _s(x), the velocity at the surface, is given by

(4)

Modeled ablation rate,

The ice flux, , can be calculated from the glacier geometry and the model-parameter vector, m,

(5)

where W(x) is the flowband width and ū ^m(x) is the depth-averaged velocity given by

(6)

Note that when E _B = E _C, when λ(x) = 0 or when λ(x) = H(x), Eqn (6) reduces to the standard SIA result for depth-averaged velocity

(7)

where E _γ is the appropriate enhancement factor.

The modeled dynamic flux, , (Eqn (5)), produces an estimate, , of the accumulation-rate profile required to achieve steady-state flow, through the steadystate mass-conservation equation,

(8)

The spatial derivative, , can be obtained from Eqn (5) using the product rule for differentiation.

3.3. Inverse algorithm

Our goal is to infer model parameters, m, comprising the basal-ice thickness, λ(x), the enhancement factor for basal ice, E _B(x), and the enhancement factor for overlying clean ice, E _C(x), along a flowband. Here, we outline a formulation of this inverse problem and one way to solve it. To formalize this adjustment procedure, we form a data norm, ||d||, composed of residuals resulting from comparing model predictions with observations, and a model norm, ||m||, which incorporates the smoothness conditions we use to regularize the solution.

3.3.1 Data norm

Because observations of velocity, , and mass balance, , are discrete, the N ^(d) observations in the data vector o ^(d) can be represented as , where index j indicates the jth discrete observation. An estimate of m will produce predicted model quantities, o ^(m), that do not perfectly match the observed quantities in the data vector, o ^(d). Their difference can be used to form residuals, which are the portions of the data unexplained by the model:

(9)

where is the standard deviation of the jth observation, .

The data norm, ||d||, is defined as the sum of all the squared data residuals:

(10)

Weights, w_j , different from unity can also be applied to the residuals from various data types if desired.

3.3.2. Model norm

The three model-parameter profiles, m = [E _B(x), E _C(x), λ(x)], can, in practice, also be treated as discrete series of N^(m) parameters, such that m_i is the ith model parameter. The model norm, ||m||, measures the degree of regularization imposed on the solution (e.g. the amount of smoothness imposed on each profile). Smoothness can be represented through a finite-difference second-derivative relationship among all triplets of adjacent points. For example, when the model parameters are equally spaced and separated by Δx, the second derivative at the ith model parameter is approximated by

(11)

Just as a data residual represents deviation from a targeted data profile, a parameter curvature represents deviation from a targeted profile of zero curvature. And just as the data residuals in Eqn (9) are nondimensionalized with the data standard deviation, which is a measure of characteristic variability, so too the curvature ‘residuals’ can be nondimensionalized with characteristic values, m ^(c), of the parameter and the lengths, L ^(c), over which they can vary.

These curvatures, c_i , are

(12)

and the collection of curvatures (and possibly other model constraints) can be written as a vector, c, and a model norm, ||m||, can be written as

(13)

Of course, other variations are possible. For example, E _C could be treated as a uniform adjustable scalar, or simply set equal to unity.

The model parameters, m, are selected to minimize these data residuals, r_j , and smoothness residuals, c_i , in some sense. One way to achieve this is to minimize a scalar functional, J (|d||, ||m||), of the norms, which could, for example, take the form

(14)

In this example, the tolerance, T ² ≈ N^(d) (Reference ParkerParker, 1994, p. 124), is the expected root-mean-square residual mismatch to be expected if all the normalized residuals in Eqn (10) were random variables from a normal distribution with zero mean and unit variance, and the trade-off parameter, υ, expresses the balance between obtaining a smooth model and fitting the data exactly; it can be adjusted until ||d||² – T ² = 0 when J is minimized. This regularization procedure is often called ‘Tikhonov regularization’ (e.g. Reference Aster, Borchers and ThurberAster and others, 2013).

3.4. Solution procedure

Because the forward problem is nonlinear in the model-parameter set, m, an iterative linearized solution procedure can be used to solve the inverse problem, using a gradient method to find the most appropriate m. The simplest solution procedure is as follows. To find the k th estimate from the (k – 1)th estimate, we need to find the corrections, Δm ^(k):

(15)

Starting from an initial guess, m ⁽⁰⁾, for parameter set m, and an initial guess for υ, we find corrections, Δm, by solving a linearized set of algebraic equations

(16)

where matrix J _c creates the second-derivative vector (d² m/ dx ²) _i in Eqn (11) from the parameter vector m; J _r is a Jacobian matrix containing the partial derivatives O_j ^(m)/m_i ; the matrices W _c and W _r are weights arising from the curvature and residual equations, respectively. W _r, in particular, includes υ as part of the weighting (if all observations are weighted the same, then W _r = υ^1/2). This system can be solved, for example, using singular-value decomposition, but ultimately, the best solution method depends on the complexity and nonlinearity of the forward model.

This solution procedure will satisfy Eqn (14) given a value of υ; therefore, a solution also needs to iterate towards finding the best value of υ. If υ is too small, then the minimization of J overemphasizes the model norm, which includes our expectations for model smoothness or nearness to a specific value. If υ is too large, J results in overemphasis on fitting the data. We aim for a value of υ that minimizes J while allowing ||d||² – T ² to approach zero, which means that we are fitting the data to within our uncertainties. Reference Waddington, Neumann, Koutnik and MorseWaddington and others (2007) explain this solution procedure more fully, applied to a similar inverse problem.

3.5. Resolution

A straightforward way to judge the resolving ability of the inverse problem is to use the forward model to generate synthetic observations based on a prescribed model-parameter set that contains a spike (one value significantly different to the others). Then we can use the synthetic data and the inverse algorithm to see how well it reproduces the prescribed model parameters.

4.1. Field site characteristics

Taylor Glacier (–77.725° S, 162.26° E), located in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, is an outlet glacier of Taylor Dome, part of the East Antarctic ice sheet. Taylor Glacier extends 100 km from Taylor Dome to its terminus in Lake Bonney, a perennially frozen lake (Fig. 2). Figure 3 shows a detail of our field site with pertinent locations, Nirvana (inland, upstream site) and Grace (near cliff, downstream site), identified.

The glacier flows on frozen unconsolidated sediments and fills the western part of Taylor Valley (Reference Mager, Fitzsimons, Frew and SamynMager and others, 2007). A layer of prominent debris-rich basal ice (Fig. 1) overlain by clean ice is observed along the 20–30 m high ice cliffs that characterize the glacier margin, although the basal ice is often obscured by an ice apron produced from dry calving. Because the average annual air temperature is –17.8°C (for 2004/05, from a meteorological station near the glacier terminus; also Reference Nylen, Fountain and DoranNylen and others, 2004), the conservation of energy for thin ice with a typical value of geothermal flux suggests that the glacier is frozen to its bed. Approximately 6 km upstream there is an overdeepening, where the basal ice may reach the local pressure-melting point for marine-based sediments with high salt content (Reference RobinsonRobinson, 1984; Reference Hubbard, Lawson, Anderson, Hubbard and BlatterHubbard and others, 2004). Along the 65 km ablation zone, sublimation accounts for 40–80% of mass loss, with the remaining mass removed by melting during the short summer (Reference Lewis, Fountain and DanaLewis and others, 1998; Reference Hoffman, Fountain and ListonHoffman and others, 2008; Reference Bliss, Cuffey and KavanaughBliss and others, 2011). In the terminus region, summertime ephemeral streams flow down three large surface channels parallel to ice flow and into Lake Bonney, dominating the summer ablation process (Reference Johnston, Fountain and NylenJohnston and others, 2005).

4.2. The forward model

As explained above, we use a 2-D flowband model with the geometry shown in Figure 5 and velocities predicted by the SIA. The SIA states that when the ice thickness is much smaller than the horizontal ice extent and the wavelength of bedrock and glacier surface undulations is long relative to ice thickness, then the horizontal derivatives of stress, temperature and horizontal velocity are negligible compared with the vertical derivatives (Reference Cuffey and PatersonCuffey and Paterson, 2010). We feel this is a reasonable approximation along the flowband, because the ice is thin relative to the length scale of changes along the flowband, the boundary between the basal ice and the clean ice is smooth and we assume that the bed topography along the flowband is also relatively smooth.

To further show that the SIA is a reasonable approximation, we can estimate components of the deviatoric-stress tensor by estimating corresponding components of the strain-rate tensor, using characteristic thicknesses and velocities, with an assumption of uniform effective viscosity across the region. The vertical deviatoric shear stress can be approximated as τ_xz ∝ η∂u/∂z. Where the SIA is valid, this component of the deviatoric-stress tensor is at least one order of magnitude larger than all other components – preferably more than one order of magnitude. At the upstream end of our flowband, the horizontal velocity at the surface is ~ 5 m a^–1 , this ice is ~ 125 m thick and ∂u/∂z ~ 0: 04. Towards the terminus, ∂u/∂z ~ 3/30 = 0: 1. The longitudinal deviatoric stress can be approximated τ_xz ∝ 2η∂u/ ∂x. The change in surface horizontal velocity along the flowband is 2 m a^–1 over ~ 700 m distance, which gives an average strain rate of ∂u/∂x ~ 2/700 ~ 0: 003, an order of magnitude smaller than the vertical shear strain rate, ∂u/ ∂z. Similarly, the lateral extension along the flowband is also an order of magnitude smaller than the vertical shear stress, ∂v/ ∂y ~ 0: 0025, based on the rate at which the flowband widens. Our flowband SIA model incorporates this lateral extension component of stress through mass conservation, as described by Eqns (5) and (8). While one order of magnitude is perhaps the minimum acceptable criterion, the ability to use a numerically simpler model allows us to explore a wider range of model parameters.

The SIA is inadequate within one to two ice thicknesses from the ice cliff at the glacier margin; ice deformation in this immediate cliff region must be treated using a more sophisticated approach (e.g. one that solves for all components of the stress and strain tensors (full-Stokes model)).

Due to limited observations, we cannot solve the complete inverse problem as described in Section 3. In the calculations presented here, we approach the solution from two end-member assumptions that allow us to simplify the model-parameter set, m:

• We assume that the softness of the basal ice and that of clean ice are spatially uniform, and we allow the thickness of the basal ice to vary along the flowband: m _λ = [E _B, E _C, λ(x)].

• We assume that the thickness of the basal ice is uniform, the softness of the clean ice is uniform and we allow the softness of the basal ice to vary along the flowband: m _{E B} =[E _B(x), E _C, λ].

Because the true behavior of basal ice is more complex, as demonstrated by tunnel observations of fold and boudinage structures within basal ice (Reference Fitzsimons and KnightFitzsimons, 2006), these two assumption are considered end members of a continuum of possible behaviors.

4.3. Regularization

The straightforward calculation of the velocity profile along the flowband as described above is an underdetermined problem, because we do not have measurements of the thickness or softness of the basal ice. In order to determine the most likely solutions, we impose regularization on the model-parameter set to find a unique solution. The data norm includes the observed discrete measurements of accumulation rate, , the surface velocities, , and their respective uncertainties which depend on the measurement method (discussed below).

Accepting that a complex material, such as basal ice, may change thickness or softness relatively suddenly due to shear band formation or folding processes, we choose to weakly constrain the smoothness of the basal-ice thickness profile or the basal-ice softness profile. We set the characteristic length and magnitude for changes in the basal thickness profile at L ^(C) = 10 m and m^(C) = 5 (Eqn (12)). Because the only measurement of basal-ice thickness is that of Reference Samyn, Fitzsimons and LorrainSamyn and others (2005a), which does not provide a confirmed maximum thickness, we do not constrain the maximum thickness. We choose models that satisfy minimum thickness at the terminus (estimated as 4.5 m by Reference Samyn, Fitzsimons and LorrainSamyn and others, 2005a) for end member 1. Similarly for end member 2, we set the characteristic length and magnitude for changes in basal softness at L ^(C) =10 m and m^(C) = 10.

Despite only weakly constraining the smoothness of the basal-ice characteristics, we assume that the surface-velocity and ablation-rate profiles should vary smoothly, because they are a function of the depth-integrated velocity. Therefore, in making the final choice among best-fitting model parameters from among all valid solutions using the data norm and model norm as defined above, we also constrain the smoothness of the predicted surface-velocity and the ablation-rate profiles as a curvature constraint within the model norm. The characteristic length and magnitude for changes in these are L^(C) = 100 m and m^(C) = 0: 5 for surface velocity, and L^(C) = 100 m and m^(C) = 0: 25 for ablation rate. We do this because the smoothness of the predicted velocity and ablation-rate profiles is not guaranteed without explicitly including this in the model norm, because the data norm does not distinguish between a positive and a negative residual for a particular location, x, therefore at x_i we could have a positive residual (e.g. velocity predicted higher than observed), while at x_{i + 1} we could have a negative residual (e.g. velocity predicted lower than observed). By minimizing the square of these residuals, the solution cannot distinguish between a smooth velocity profile that is consistently above that observed and one that jumps above and below it. In a full-Stokes ice-flow model that includes longitudinal stresses, the smoothness of the surface velocity and ablation rate will arise from the physics of ice flow; but our mathematically simpler model does not efficiently impose this smoothness without our explicitly incorporating it into the inverse problem. By requiring the predicted velocity and accumulation to vary smoothly, we can distinguish between these otherwise equivalently valid solutions.

4.4. Solution method

The two end members of our analysis have model-parameter sets m _λ = [E _B, E _C, λ(x)] for variable basal-ice thickness (end member 1) and m _EB = [E _B(x), E _C, λ], for variable basal-ice softness (end member 2). To increase computational efficiency and because of our limited observations, we limit the x values to 11 discrete positions along the flowband and we limit the trade-off parameter to υ = 1, based on initial runs. Although solving for the best υ value would allow us to narrow the best solutions given the observations in the problem, we feel our limited observations at this stage lead to more general conclusions that are not sensitive to υ, as long as it is within an order of magnitude of unity.

To solve for m _λ, we solved for λ(x) for given combinations of 2 ≤ E _B ≤ 100 and 1 ≤ E _C ≤ 10. For each combination of E _B and E _C, we started from five different initial λ(x) profiles to ensure the model converges towards a global minimum. Each of the five initial λ(x) profiles consists of 11 randomly chosen values ranging from 2.5 to 7.5 m. We solve this nonlinear constrained inverse problem using a computationally efficient interior point method (using MATLAB^®’s fmincon function), which is based on the gradient method described in Section 3.4.

Similarly, to solve for m _{E B}, we solved for E _B(x) for given combinations of 0 ≤ λ ≤ 20 and 1 ≤ E _C ≤ 10. We again begin with five different initial profiles, E _B, consisting of 11 randomly chosen values ranging from 20 to 40.

5.1. Properties of clean ice

In order to constrain the properties of the clean ice, which is more accessible than the basal ice, we used samples from two shallow cores: an ice core to 16 m depth at Nirvana and an ice core to 13 m depth at the Grace field site (Fig. 3). These cores were transported to the US National Ice Core Laboratory, where we measured electrical conductivity, cut thin sections to measure ice fabric using an automatic fabric analyzer (Reference WilenWilen, 2000) and cut samples for measuring ice chemistry.

The clean ice of Taylor Glacier originates from Taylor Dome. The ice is white and bubbly without any layers present in the visual stratigraphy or electrical conductivity measurements. Using an ice-flow model and the analysis of oxygen stable isotopes of ice samples collected along the length of Taylor Glacier, Reference Aciego, Cuffey, Kavanaugh, Morse and SeveringhausAciego and others (2007) concluded that ice from the Last Glacial Maximum is exposed on the lower 25 km of the ablation area, and ice in the terminus region may be older than 28 ka. Our measurements agree that this ice has typical properties of Ice Age ice (Reference PatersonPaterson, 1991), including high solute concentrations (mean values of 0.363 mg L^–1 chloride, 0.292 mg L^–1 sulfate and 0.206 mg L^–1 nitrate). In comparison with values summarized by Reference PatersonPaterson (1991), we measured concentrations of chloride 3.9 times higher than Ice Age ice from the Vostok ice core (which is 22 times higher than Holocene ice at Vostok); concentrations of sulfate 1.6 times higher than Vostok Ice Age ice (which is 2.4 times higher than Holocene ice); and concentrations of nitrate 4 times higher than Vostok Ice Age ice (which is 14 times higher than Holocene ice). The accumulation area for Taylor Glacier (including Taylor Dome) has higher concentrations of marine-based solutes, such as chloride, than Vostok due to proximity to McMurdo Sound (Reference MayewskiMayewski and others, 1996). Several studies (e.g. Reference PatersonPaterson, 1991) suggest that these ions have the greatest effect on softening of the ice. We did not measure debris concentration directly, but assume that it is low, based on previous studies (0.05–0.1% by volume; Reference Samyn, Svensson, Fitzsimons and LorrainSamyn and others, 2005b).

All thin sections show generally small (<2 mm diameter) ice crystals and have a near-vertical, single-maximum fabric. Figure 6 shows two example thin sections from these samples. Fabric results from the Nirvana ice core suggest migration recrystallization is active, due to the presence of some larger crystals with c –axes at high angles from the vertical; this may be because of seasonally elevated temperatures, due to the proximity of this core to the meltwater channel. The age of the ice at the terminus and the long distance from the accumulation zone contribute to the development of the observed fabric. As other researchers have shown, these properties enhance strain in bed-parallel shear and inhibit strain in vertical compression in the clean ice relative to Holocene isotropic ice (e.g. Reference Budd and JackaBudd and Jacka, 1989; Reference MiyamotoMiyamoto and others, 1999; Reference Cuffey and PatersonCuffey and Paterson, 2010, ch. 3). Because our model assumes the flow is predominantly in bed-parallel shear, we do not incorporate a full description of anisotropic ice flow in the forward model. Instead, we assume an enhancement factor (Eqn (1)) within the range expected for isotropic to highly anisotropic ice (Reference Budd and JackaBudd and Jacka, 1989). In our analysis, we test clean-ice softness values between 1 and 10 (1 ≤ E _C ≤ 10).

Fig. 6.

Two examples of the crystal fabric from vertical thin sections of the ice core from Taylor Glacier. These sections are ~ 10 cm tall. For Schmidt plots, the vertical axis is up; some uncertainty in the true vertical exists because of the drilling process; borehole inclination was not measured but is likely <5°. (a) 7.9 m below the surface at the interior site Nirvana. (b) 13.6 m below the surface at the site Grace, near the cliff.

5.2. Properties of debris-rich basal ice

Because detailed information about the basal-ice sequence is known from other studies, we did not make any new measurements on the basal ice (Reference CuffeyCuffey and others, 2000c; Reference Samyn, Svensson, Fitzsimons and LorrainSamyn and others, 2005a; Reference Mager, Fitzsimons, Frew and SamynMager and others, 2007). The best published constraint on the basal-ice thickness comes from a vertical shaft dug by Reference Samyn, Fitzsimons and LorrainSamyn and others (2005a,b) at the end of a tunnel dug 25 m horizontally into the ice 1.4 km upstream of the terminus. The vertical shaft exposing the debris-rich basal-ice sequence was 4 m deep; however, they did not reach a distinct contact that defines a ‘bed’. The basal-ice sequence is likely a gradual change in the ice/sediment mixture, and a distinct contact between debris-rich ice and ice-rich subglacial sediment may not exist. We assume 4 m is the minimum thickness of the basal ice near the terminus.

The basal ice is composed of a sequence of visually distinct ice facies, with varying ice properties that have been described from tunnel observations at two Taylor Glacier sites (Reference Samyn, Fitzsimons and LorrainSamyn and others, 2005a; Reference Mager, Fitzsimons, Frew and SamynMager and others, 2007). The debris-rich basal ice contrasts sharply with the clean meteoric ice which stratigraphically overlies it. Bands of clean ice also intermix with the stratified debris-rich basal ice. From the base of the vertical shaft upwards, the basal-ice sequence is composed of a 0.7 m thick dispersed facies (silt particles in plurimillimetric ice layers), a 0.8 m thick clean facies, a >2 m thick stratified facies that can be distinguished as two sections, a massive facies (>50% of debris by volume) and a laminated facies, which consists of debris-laden layers (2–20 mm thick) that alternate with clean-ice layers of similar thicknesses. The dispersed facies was not excavated all the way to the bed, and may be up to 1–2 m thicker than described (Reference Samyn, Fitzsimons and LorrainSamyn and others, 2005a,b; Reference Mager, Fitzsimons, Frew and SamynMager and others, 2007). Because our measurements and model design cannot predict deformation within each of these layers, we infer only the bulk properties of the entire basal-ice sequence using our model. Furthermore, it is likely that the basal-ice thickness is spatially variable, due to variable longitudinal and transverse stress regimes along a flowband, and that the Taylor Glacier terminus rests on frozen unconsolidated sediments.

5.3. Geometry

We extracted surface elevation and slopes from a lidar 2 m DEM collected by NASA/US Geological Survey (USGS) (Fig. 3; Reference Schenk, Csatho, Ahn, Yoon, Shin and HuhSchenk and others, 2004). To determine the flowband surface elevation, and surface slope between sites Nirvana and Grace, we neglect the small-scale roughness of the surface by smoothing the DEM surface profile using a horizontal smoothing length approximately equal to one ice thickness (40–100 m). We calculate two parallel flowlines by the steepest-descent method (perpendicular to the contours) and use the lateral distance between these contours as the flowband width.

We collected GPR data using a 100 MHz MALÅ GeoScience RAMAC system, with trace locations defined by precision Trimble GPS units. The system stacked 64 traces approximately every 1 m using wheel triggering. Due to the rough surface topography, the radar transects were not collected in straight lines; however, when extracting ice-thickness data from these observations, we consolidated the small horizontal deviations into a smoothly curving profile along our flowband. The post-processing was limited to bandpass filtering (50–120 MHz) and gain applied to highlight the basal reflector (Fig. 4). We calculated the depth using a velocity of 0.168 m ns^–1 ; we did not migrate the data. We estimate uncertainty in radar-measured depths at ± 1 m. The radar data show a single strong reflector, which we interpret as the uppermost debris-rich layer within the basal ice (Fig. 4). This is supported by observations of the basal ice at the ice cliff; if the reflector were extended horizontally ~ 20 m to the cliff outcrop at Grace, its depth would be within ± 2 m of the observed top of the basal ice. Although some of our radar data show stratified sediments below the strong reflector, it is not possible to determine directly the thickness of the deforming basal ice from these data. The geometry inputs (surface profile, surface slope, flowband width and clean-ice thickness) into the model are shown in Figure 7a–c.

Fig. 7.

(a) Observations of the geometry along the flowband from DEM, GPS and GPR (surface is smoothed over a distance equal to the local average thickness of the ice. Upper line is the surface (smoothed from the DEM) and lower line is the boundary between clean ice and the debris-rich ice (not smoothed, from radar picks). Clean ice thickness is the difference between these two lines. (b–e) Observations of (b) the surface slope from DEM after smoothing; (c) the flowband width from following steepest-descent surface slope directions in DEM after smoothing; (d) the ablation rate from stakes and interpolation procedure and (e) the horizontal surface velocities from stakes and interpolation method. For horizontal velocity and ablation rate, the dashed curve indicates the uncertainty; the uncertainty at the end points is smaller than the thickness of the lines drawn (see Sections 5.5 and 5.6 for further discussion).

5.4. Temperature

The mean annual air temperature at Taylor Glacier is –17.8° C (Reference Nylen, Fountain and DoranNylen and others, 2004). Our thermistor measurements in a 13 m deep borehole drilled at Grace indicate an average ice temperature of –18.9°C at depths of 10–13 m. Tunnel thermistor measurements confirm the basal ice within 25 m of the terminus is at –17°C (Reference Samyn, Svensson, Fitzsimons and LorrainSamyn and others, 2005b; Reference Mager, Fitzsimons, Frew and SamynMager and others, 2007). Based on these measurements, we assume the average ice temperature along the flowband is –17°C.

5.5. Ice flow

We deployed stake arrays on the ice to measure ice deformation, velocity and ablation. At both Nirvana and Grace, arrays consisted of 13 stakes in a grid with 5 m spacing, from which we measured displacement over 1 or 2 years using repeat static GPS measurements (4 mm) from a base station <1 km away. This array was designed to provide strain information within the grid. The average displacement of all stakes within the arrays provided constraints for the flowband velocities. Similar arrays (unlabeled point clusters in Fig. 3) were deployed at two other sites, which help constrain our interpolation. In addition, we measured displacements of stakes spaced 100 m apart along a transect perpendicular to ice flow at Nirvana. The measurements from the transect stakes exhibit a near-parabolic shape (Fig. 3), where velocity is smallest at the margin and greatest at the glacier center; this pattern is typical for glacier deformation. A second-order polynomial was fitted to the transect velocity data. This velocity profile shape was scaled with the decreasing width of the glacier and adjusted to match magnitudes of measured stake arrays to interpolate the velocities between measured points and to estimate the velocity field across the entire terminus region below Nirvana. The interpolation between measured data points increases the uncertainty of those data beyond that stated above. The uncertainty is shown graphically in Figure 7.

5.6. Ablation

The ice-surface heights relative to the stakes were measured several times over 2 years. Annual ablation was calculated from these measurements and interpolated along the flowband between Nirvana and Grace by scaling the change in ablation rate between stakes to change in the surface slope. Again, we neglect small-scale surface undulations and assume that surface slope drives variation in ablation rate along the flowband; this surface slope maintains a nearly constant geographical aspect along the flowband. Ablation measurements (with uncertainty ± 0.5 cm a⁻¹) at both ends of the flowband constrained our ablation-rate profile. The resulting ablation-rate profile is shown in Figure 7d. Similarly to the surface velocity, we assume that the uncertainty in the ablation rate parabolically increases with distance from the measured stakes (Fig. 7). Because this input to the model requires interpolation from the two end points and we measured ablation for only 2 years, we test the sensitivity of our results to the ablation magnitude, but not the slope or curvature of the ablation interpolation (this is outside the scope of this paper).

6.1. One-dimensional model results

6.1.1. No deformable basal ice

If we assume that basal ice is not deforming or is not present beneath the flowband (or glacier terminus), then the clean meteoric ice must be much softer than is typically assumed for glacier ice in order to match the measured surface velocity at Nirvana (5.1 m a^-1) or at Grace (3.0 m a^–1 ). Figure 8a shows that for ice at –17°C, the observed ice temperature, the model requires clean-ice softness of at least E _C = 21 at Nirvana to reach 90% of the observed velocity. That same softness, however, is not sufficient to allow the ice flow to also match the observed surface velocities at Grace (Fig. 8b).

Fig. 8.

Predicted velocity profiles relative to the measured surface velocity for sites (a) Nirvana and (b) Grace. Colored curves show various temperature and clean-ice softness combinations, as labeled, and assume no basal-ice deformation; colors represent the same parameters in both plots. Black curves are results from selected best-fitting parameters from experiment 3, which includes basal-ice deformation. Profile A has clean-ice softness of 3.5, basal-ice softness of 53 and a basal-ice thickness of 9.5 m at Nirvana and 18.0 m at Grace. Profile B has clean-ice softness of 1, basal-ice softness of 72 and basal-ice thickness 7.6 m at Nirvana and 14.9 m at Grace.

If we allow for higher temperatures (because the ice nearest the bed may be warmer due to geothermal flux), a temperature of at least –8°C is necessary to match the surface velocity with a clean-ice softness, E _C, within the range expected from theory (E _C < 10, as described above). If we limit the clean-ice softness to E _C < 5, which is in the recommended range for Ice Age ice (Reference Cuffey and PatersonCuffey and Paterson, 2010, p. 77), then the modeled surface velocity is too low for any reasonable temperature assumption (depending on the value of E _C). Furthermore, temperature and clean-ice softness combinations that can match the surface velocity at Nirvana cannot also match the surface velocity at Grace (Fig. 8b). Although the softness of clean glacier ice can vary spatially, we do not expect it to vary substantially over the ~ 700 m between Nirvana and Grace. Also, the presence of the cliff within two ice thicknesses of Grace may affect its velocity by a modest amount compared with the SIA solution; however, the difference between the relative velocities at these two sites is nearly an order of magnitude – too large to be accounted for by longitudinal stresses near the cliff. This difference between the two sites suggests a significant variation in flow properties between Nirvana and Grace that cannot be explained by typical ice-flow assumptions; therefore, we suggest that basal ice must provide the faster deformation necessary to match the surface velocities and variability over this short flowline and the softening required to match the observed surface velocities.

6.2. Flowband model results

As discussed above, we explore two end member model-parameter sets to describe the behavior of the basal ice: first, assuming constant softness for the basal ice while allowing thickness to vary spatially and, second, assuming constant thickness for the basal ice while allowing its softness to vary spatially. In reality, the best solution likely involves variations in both. In all models, the clean-ice thickness is fixed by the geometry derived from radar, and its softness is assumed spatially uniform, but allowed to vary within expected values (Section 5.1). Because the temperature at depth may be a few degrees above the measured temperatures, we ran selected experiments at –17°C, –15°C and –13°C, in order to determine the sensitivity of the results to the ice temperature. We also decreased the ablation rate by 10, 20 and up to 50% for selected experiments in order to determine the sensitivity of the results to ablation rate. Finally, we modified the shape of the ablation profile based on initial results for specific positions where our ablation-rate data are less constrained. Table 1 lists the experiments that resulted in successfully matching the data and associated model parameters.

Table 1.

The primary experimetns. The basal thickness variation group is for models where we assumed the basal-ice softness was spatially uniform and we varied the basal-ice thickness, λ(x). The basal softness variation group is for the models where we assumed the basal-ice thickness was spatially uniform and we varied the basal-ice softness E _B(x)

6.2.1. Spike resolving test

To test the resolving power of our inverse problem, we generated synthetic data using a λ(x) that is uniform, except for a spike at one x location (red in Fig. 9a). We used the forward model to calculate and (red curves in Fig. 9b and c). Using these synthetic observations, we followed the inverse procedure to recreate our given λ(x) profile (black curves). The size of the spike was chosen to be as large as possible, while not triggering model instability when the basal-ice thickness approaches the clean-ice thickness. Similar experiments were conducted with the spike in different positions along the flowline, and using different combinations of E _C and E _B, all achieving similar results. These tests confirm that given surface velocity and ablation rate, the variation in basal-ice thickness is resolvable.

Fig. 9.

Example of spike test. The red curve in (a) is the given basal-ice thickness, the red curves in (b) and (c) are the synthetic ablation rate observations and the synthetic surface velocities, respectively. The black curves in each plot are the inferred basal thickness and predicted ablation and velocity using the inverse method.

6.2.2. Basal-ice thickness variation (end member 1)

The first six experiments we ran involved determining the basal-ice thickness variation assuming a constant basal softness, E _B. Figure 10 shows the goodness of fit for each experiment. For each combination of clean-ice and basal-ice softness, we started from five randomly chosen initial basal-thickness profiles. The most robust solutions are those in which the five initial guesses resulted in similar final profiles – suggesting that the minimization process found a global minimum rather than local minima. The color of each point in these plots, however, is the smallest of the five cost functions, J. If a cluster of points form a global minimum, the five cost functions for each point will be similar and the smallest J will vary more smoothly from point to point in Figure 10. Where nearby points have strongly varying colors, it is more likely that the minimization process found several local minima. The best-fitting solutions are among those with a consistent global minimum: those within the bluer regions. The darker the blue, the better the solution fit is. The ranges we identify as the best-fitting solutions are specified in Table 1.

Fig. 10.

Results from experiments 1–6, as defined in Table 1. Each color represents the log of the smallest cost function, J, from among the five initial starting profiles of basal thickness for each parameter set. Solutions most likely associated with a global minimum are the consistently blue areas. Solutions most likely associated with local minima are those surrounded by dissimilar colors. In each subplot heading, T defines the temperature for the experiment and B defines the relative ablation rate.

The clean-ice softness (the vertical axis in each plot) does not have a strong influence on the best-fitting solutions. The inverse problem, as we have defined it, can find equally good solutions over the whole range of clean-ice softness. This lack of sensitivity exists because most of the deformation happens in the deepest ice, which is the basal ice in this case; the clean ice contributes very little to the deformation (<10% in most cases). The softness of the clean ice, therefore, has a negligible effect on choosing a best-fitting solution.

The results in Figure 10 are spatially arranged such that the effect of increasing temperature is shown on the vertical axis and the effect of increasing ablation is shown on the horizontal axis. Because temperature acts to soften the ice, there is a trade off between increasing temperature and increasing the basal-ice softness, E _B, to produce similar dynamics in the ice. This is seen most clearly in the dark red bands on the left of experiments 1–3. At lower temperatures (experiment 3) there is no solution possible without a basal-ice softness of at least E _B = 22; however with higher temperatures (experiment 1) a minimum of E _B = 14 is required to find a solution. The entire pattern of colors to the right of these dark-red bands is shifted to the left as temperatures increase.

Because we have very few ablation measurements and our interpolation scheme between those measurements is based on weak assumptions, we test the sensitivity to ablation magnitude and shape (the horizontal axis in Fig. 10). Experiments 2, 4 and 5 show the effect of decreasing the magnitude of the ablation by a uniform percentage along the entire profile: the blue region becomes larger and darker as ablation is decreased from 100% to 80%. Decreasing the ablation to 80% of the measured values increases the goodness of fit to the observations (decreases the value of the cost function). Decreasing the ablation any further results in solutions that do not fit the observations sufficiently to satisfy our criteria. An alternative to a percentage decrease in ablation is to modify the shape of the ablation-rate profile. In reviewing the best-fitting solutions, we found a consistent shape of the predicted ablation-rate profiles. Figure 11a–c show selected results from experiment 3. Figure 11a shows the basal thickness profiles for four values of E _B (20, 30, 40 and 50) and E _C = 3. Despite the measured ablation-rate profile gradually increasing along the flowband (red curve in Fig. 11b) all best-fitting solutions predict an ablation-rate profile that decreases first, then increases along the profile. Because of our lack of measurements in the central part of the flowband, our slope-based interpolation scheme may be a poor assumption. If we instead interpolate between our measurements with a curve that is more similar to the predicted curve, we can improve the overall best-fitting solutions. Figure 11d–f show solutions using the modified ablation-rate profile (red in Fig. 11e). When we adjust the curvature of the ablation-rate profile the solution is significantly better, suggesting this might be closer to the real ablation-rate profile.

Fig. 11.

Comparison of predicted ablation-rate profiles and velocity profiles for the original observed and interpolated ablation profile (experiment 3, E _C = 3, E _B = 20, 30, 40 and 50) and the modified ablation profile (experiment 6, E _C = 3, E _B = 20, 30, 40 and 50). Red curves are the observed datasets;, black and blue curves are predicted data, based on best-fitting solutions.

6.2.3. Basal-ice layer softness variation (end member 2)

For end member 2, we assume basal ice with uniform thickness but spatially variable softness. Experiments 7–12 target this question and test the sensitivity to temperature and accumulation rate, in a similar way to the first six experiments. Figure 12 shows the minimized cost function, J, for each combination of clean-ice softness and basal-ice thickness.

Fig. 12.

Results from experiments 1–6, as defined in Table 1. Each color represents the log of the smallest of the cost functions, J, from the five initial starting profiles of basal softness for each parameter set. Solutions most likely associated with a global minimum are the consistently blue areas. Solutions most likely associated with local minima are those surrounded by dissimilar colors.

In parallel with the first set of experiments, increasing the temperature of the ice allows thinner basal ice to accommodate the deformation, because temperature acts to further soften the ice. If the ice is too warm, as in experiment 7, however, our assumption of a uniform basal-ice thickness narrows the range of best-fitting solutions by limiting the range of behavior. In general, it is more difficult to find a robust global minimum in these experiments. Figure 13a–c show example best-fitting solutions for experiment 9. Among these four solutions, the blue curve in Figure 13a provides the best fit (though the corresponding predicted surface-velocity and ablation-rate profiles do not match well). Furthermore, the scatter in the ablation-rate profile and the basal softness profile for λ = 6 show that some solutions find local rather than global minima.

Fig. 13.

Comparison of predicted ablation-rate profiles and velocity profiles for the original observed and interpolated ablation profile (experiment 9, E _C = 6, λ = 6, 10, 14 18 m) and the modified ablation profile (experiment 12, E _C = 6, λ = 6, 10, 14, 18 m). Red curves are the observed datasets; black and blue curves are predicted data based on best-fitting solutions (blue curve is the best-fitting among these solutions, λ = 14).

Decreasing the ablation does not have as strong an effect in experiments 7–12 as in experiments 1–6. Figure 13d–f show solutions using a modified ablation curve to test the sensitivity to the ablation pattern. The modified ablation-rate profile improves the best-fitting solutions; however, predicted surface velocities still do not match the observations well.