Flow pattern near Massif A in the Yamato bare ice field estimated from the structures and the mechanical properties of a shallow ice core

A shallow ice core, 30 m long, was collected at the Yamato bare ice field in East Queen Maud Land, Antarctica. From the uniaxial compression tests with the core, the flow law of the ice was obtained, which was different considerably from that obtained for the artificial polycrystalline ice with the random orientation fabric. Additional structural analyses (fabric, stratigraphy, etc.) of the core al­ lowed estimation of the stress configuration and the flow field around the nunataks. As a result, a longitudinal stress of 0.15 MPa was obtained at the drilling site. Also, the variation of surface velocities, internal flow lines and isochrones upstream of Massif A were calculated. The results showed that the origin of the ice emerg­ ing near the nunataks is not far from its present position and the catchment area is rather small. The ice is considered nearly stagnant in the adjacent region of the nunataks.