The crystallographic results of the Jungfraujoch Research Party’s investigations were published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society in August 1939. It has since occurred to me that insufficient attention was drawn to another factor affecting the movement and growth of the glacier grain, namely the possibility of pressure melting, followed by regelation. There are numerous air spaces between glacier grains at all stages until they approach the state of pure ice, and it seems natural that while two neighbouring grains (which are continually moving differentially to one another) arc in contact, pressure melting, will take place, and that when the film of water reaches an air space it will refreeze. The effect will become less as the firn passes into ice owing to the decrease in the amount of air space and the increased interlocking, of the grains, which makes their differential movement more difficult. Naturally, also, pressure melting would not take place at those points in the glacier which were appreciably below freezing point.

Temperatures were measured within the firn and ice of the upper reaches of the Seward Glacier (referred to in this paper as the “upper Seward Glacier”) to a depth of 204 ft. (62.2 m.) by means of thermohms and a Wheatstone bridge. Thermal boring proved a feasible means of penetrating this glacier. The winter’s chilled layer here develops a thickness of 40–50 ft. (12.2–15.2 m.) and attains temperatures of at least −13° C. Deterioration of the chilled Iayer is rapid and irregular in the final phase and is attributed largely to freezing of percolating melt water. Melt water exerts such a powerful influence on thermal regimen that bodies of firn in environments with mean annual temperatures below freezing may, nonetheless, be geophyaically temperate because of extensive warming by melt water in summer. In both 1948 and 1949, the annual chilled layer on the upper Seward Glacier disappeared within the first 10 days of July. The slow development and rapid deterioration of diurnal crusts on firn and the lag effects at depth reproduce in miniature the behavior of the annual chilled layer. On the basis of its thermal regimen the upper Seward Glacier is geophysically temperate.

The characteristics and probable development of dirt cones on Vatnajökull (Iceland) are described. Thick accumulations of debris protect the ice beneath them from ablation, whereas thin ones accelerate the process. Under given conditions of ablation, the nature of the debris covering is the deciding factor—in particular its radiation absorption coefficient, conductivity and thickness. Contrasts are noted between the dirt cones of Vatnajökull and those of other glaciers. The nature of the debris and of the ablation varies greatly from place to place, but all dirt cones result from differential ablation.

The author describes the work of Dr. V. Vareschi on the pollen content of glacier ice. A general account of the method of analysis is given. The results of statistical evidence of the analyses on several alpine glaciers are discussed, particularly in regard to the general nature of glacier flow in different parts of the glaciers. Vareschi’s suggestions as to the modes of origin of a certain type of ogive banding and of parallel banding (Pflugfurcheneis) are dealt with in the light of his findings. It is pointed out that what appears to be a valuable new approach to the solution of glacier flow problems needs elaboration before it can be accepted in all its bearings.