This paper describes a new, environmentally friendly drilling technique for making shortand long-term access boreholes in shelf glaciers using lightweight drills. The new drilling technique was successfully developed for installation of small-diameter sensors under the Ross Ice Shelf through �193m thick ice at Windless Bight, McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica. The two access boreholes were drilled ...

We have obtained a near infrared spectrum of the brightest satellite of the large Kuiper Belt Object, 2003 EL61. The spectrum has absorption features at 1.5 and 2.0 microns, indicating that water ice is present on the surface. We find that the satellite's absorption lines are much deeper than water ice features typically found on Kuiper Belt Objects. We argue that the unusual spectrum indicates...

[1] Long-period oceanic infragravity (IG) waves (ca. [250, 50] s period) are generated along continental coastlines by nonlinear wave interactions of storm-forced shoreward propagating swell. Seismic observations on the Ross Ice Shelf show that free IG waves generated along the Pacific coast of North America propagate transoceanically to Antarctica, where they induce a much higher amplitude she...

Ice flashover threatens the security and reliability of power transmission. However, the ice flashover mechanism of insulators remains poorly understood. This study analyses water droplet freezing and ion distribution in ice layer under alternating electric field. It also investigates ion migration during icing process of insulator string under alternating electric field and its effects on insu...

We have modeled atmospheric effects, especially ozone depletion, due to a solar proton event which probably accompanied the extreme magnetic storm of 1-2 September 1859. We use an inferred proton fluence for this event as estimated from nitrate levels in Greenland ice cores. We present results showing production of odd nitrogen compounds and their impact on ozone. We also compute rainout of nit...

The large number of mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBIs) occurring each year, along with increasing evidence that these injuries are more serious than previously thought, has created a demand to understand how mTBIs occur so that they can be prevented. The use of helmet-based instrumentation to estimate head impact biomechanics in sports is an increasingly popular method by which to study mTBI...

A global trend of a warming climate may seriously affect species dependent on sea ice. We investigated the impact of climate on the Baltic ringed seals (Phoca hispida botnica), using historical and future climatological time series. Availability of suitable breeding ice is known to affect pup survival. We used detailed information on how winter temperatures affect the extent of breeding ice and...

I n the face of rapid climate change in the Arctic (increasing temperatures, earlier onset of spring snowmelt, sea ice loss, etc.), it is important to improve our knowledge about processes driving these changes. In general, climate models are able to reproduce enhanced warming in the Arctic, the so-called Arctic amplification. However, discrepancies are apparent between observations and global ...

The potential for break-up of Antarctic ice shelves by hydrofracturing and following ice cliff instability might be important for future ice dynamics. One recent study suggests that the Antarctic ice sheet could lose a lot more mass during the 21st century than previously thought. This increased mass-loss is found to strongly depend on the emission scenario and thereby on global temperature cha...

Clouds strongly modulate the surface energy budget over the Arctic ice pack. In autumn, as the amount of insolation rapidly decreases, their main influence is felt through enhancing the emissivity of the cold dry atmosphere. During autumn, low clouds are present over the arctic ice pack nearly 60% of the time. In addition, ice clouds, which are not included in this statistic, become increasingl...