A general survey of the preliminary results of a three-year program of measurements on the Amery Ice Shelf by A.N.A.R.E. are presented, together with theoretical considerations of the velocity and stress distributions and the mass and energy regimes of the ice shelf.

In order to explain the observed velocity distribution it has been found necessary to extend Weertman’s theory of ice-shelf creep to an ice shelf bounded at its sides. The resulting theoretical velocity profile applied to the results of the Amery Ice Shelf provides estimates of the average values of the power flow-law parameters for the ice shelf.

The energy and mass budget considerations, together with the recorded change in form of the ice front, suggest that the ice-shelf regime is not in a continual state of balance but may fluctuate as the ice shelf changes in form over a period of about forty years.

In order to determine longitudinal profiles of movement on glacier surfaces from photogrammetric surveys, it is necessary to know the direction of movement. The present method requires at least two base lines with overlapping ranges of photographs. The establishment of a base-line system for a given glacier form depends on the demands of accuracy. The method is applied to the movement of the glacier Kongsvegen (Vestspitsbergen) and the accuracy obtained is discussed. The movement direction of the points on the medial moraine of Kongsvegen does not coincide with the moraine direction.

The terminus position of the Harald Moltke Bræ has been mapped from existing maps and from aerial and terrestrial photographs for the years 1946–47, 1954, 1956, 1962 and 1965. When abetted by Wright’s earlier work, a fairly detailed record of terminus position exists for the period 1916 to 1965. The glacier has been in nearly continuous retreat during this period interrupted by a slight advance from 1926 to 1932. Loss of area has been accelerating since 1946–47. Ice flow velocity near the terminus has fluctuated through a known range from 30 m./yr. to over 1,000 m./yr.

Walsh Glacier, Yukon and Alaska, after 40 years or more of virtual stagnation in the terminal area, began a very rapid surge in late 1960 or 1961. A maximum movement of 10.1 km. occurred in the central portion of the glacier between 1961 and 1965, as shown by aerial photographs of the displacement of surface features, perhaps the greatest such displacement yet reported for any surging glacier.

The pattern of accumulation on the Devon Island ice cap is described. There is an area of minimum accumulation encircling the highest part of the ice cap and 100–200 m. below it. Below this zone, accumulation gradually increases to a maximum near the ice-cap edge. The overall pattern is related to snow transport by katabatic winds. There is a regional accumulation pattern of high accumulation (ca. 40.0 cm. water equivalent) in the south-east part of the ice cap and an area of low accumulation (ca. 11 0 cm. water equivalent) in the north-west. This east-south-east to west-north-west accumulation gradient is related to cyclonic activity to the east in Baffin Bay, and it is probably intensified by the presence of open water in the same area.

A gravity survey was made in June of 1963 of four ice caps on western Melville Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Ice thicknesses were interpreted from Bouguer anomalies at 138 stations. The regional gravity field of the area has a simple form and is associated with a uniform bedrock geology. Because of this, the interpretation of the gravity data was greatly simplified in comparison with the more usual glaciological problem. It was found that greatest ice thicknesses ranged from 30 to 50 m., filling hidden valleys or depressions under the main ice-cap body. Ice-cap volumes ranged from 0.2 to 1.0 km.3.

The geographical distribution of the drumlins was studied. They are arranged in bands perpendicular to ice pressure with a weaker alignment parallel to ice flow. An hypothesis of drumlin origin is presented. Two ice flows are present, a strong flow from an Irish centre to the north-west, and a weaker flow of Scottish ice from the north.

The rate of grain growth in thin sections of polycrystalline ice was found to be practically the same at temperatures between 0°C. and −1°C. and not to depend to a great extent upon initial average grain size. In general, several hundred hours of annealing at 0°C. reduced the number of grains by a factor of about 3. The growth rate of certain grains was much greater than the average and these increased about a hundredfold in area. The rate of change of the average diameter was approximately inversely proportional to the annealing time. Grain boundary angles tended to average 120° irrespective of the number of sides per grain. Both grain shapes and crystallographic orientations were found to influence boundary migration rates. After long periods of annealing there was a strong tendency for the surviving grains to have their c -axes oriented parallel to the plane of the ice surface.

The growth of bonds between snow grains or ice spheres has been variously attributed to surface diffusion, volume diffusion, and evaporation–condensation. To distinguish among these possible mechanisms the unconfined compressive strength of two groups of snow samples was determined as a function of time. One group was allowed to sinter under atmospheric conditions while the other group was kept immersed in silicone oil. The much lower rate of strengthening of the latter group suggests that evaporation–condensation must be the major mechanism of mass transport in snow under atmospheric conditions. The possible magnitudes of the various mass transfer coefficients are discussed.

Penetration tests in snow show that the Rammsonde number R as a measure of force resisting penetration may be in error by a factor of two depending on the ratio of hammer to probe weight and the coefficient of restitution. It is suggested that the Hiley pile driving formula is applicable to the problem and gives more accurate values for the force of penetration. This formula accounts for the influence of different hammer weights, is in agreement with the conservation laws to the first approximation, and has been in general use for some time as one of the best simple equations for determining the dynamic resistance of piles.

The Rammsonde equation is notable for its simplicity. The Hiley equation, using the same factors does not detract from this virtue. Further research is suggested to find ways of replacing the coefficient of restitution with more fundamental parameters in impact problems.

The time separation between related extremes in the values of surface temperature and growth rate of a floating ice cover are shown to depend on the mean ice temperature and thickness. A quantity termed the lag coefficient is introduced for which observations from Churchill, Hudson Bay, and Davis, Antarctica, suggest a dependence on temperature but not on geography.

A small ice-dammed glacial lake beside the Casement Glacier in south-eastern Alaska was observed to drain in two separate pulses during the summer of 1965. The initial discharge appears to have resulted when the ice lobe damming the lake was floated by the increasing depth of water. There is no good explanation for the second rapid discharge but it may have been due to the sudden opening of crevasses.

Many elongated hollows about 300 m. long, 200 m. wide and 30 m. deep occur on the surface of Torv Gletscher in a region where the flow of the glacier splits in several directions. Their possible origin is discussed.