Relief-forming activity of the Ross and McMurdo shelf flaciers, the Antarctic

Abstract

The author describes the mechanism of expiration (glacial erosion) at the sea floor by Shelf glaciers, the latters differing in mass budget (Ross glacier freezes and melts at its base, McMurdo glacier actively freezes at the base). The expiration rate is calculated to be not less than 1 cm per year at loose sediments and 1,0 to 1,5 mm per year at rock floor. Typical features of expiration topography are stated, which has been formed by shelf glaciers and emerged due to tectonic uplift of the Transantarctic Mountains (sub-horizontal expiration terraces, crossing flatbottomed valleys, now situated above mountain glaciers surface). A classification is developed of loose deposits- formed by shelf glaciers.