Studies were made of the correlation between the crystallographic axes and the shape of an individual single crystal of a crystalline aggregate in a temperate glacier and an Antarctic deep core, both of which have the typical fabric pattern of the four-maxima type, by approximating the crystal shape to an ellipsoid and then measuring misorientations between the axes of the ellipsoid and the crystallographic axes of the crystal. The result shows that the crystallographic axes are correlated with the axes of the ellipsoid; that is, in most cases the longest and the shortest axis of the ellipsoid are coincident with one of the a-axes and the c-axis of a crystal, respectively.

Palaeoglacial evidence at three sites in southern Victoria Land has been examined to consider the possible uplift of the Transantarctic Mountains through the East Antarctic ice sheet prior to the Middle Miocene. A Cenozoic tillite at Mount Feather and a striated pavement at Mount Brooke pre-date uplift. Another tillite remnant adjacent to Odell Glacier near Mount Brooke post-dates the uplift and is locally derived. This tillite, together with the Mount Feather tillite, has been previously placed in the Sirius Formation, a term that the authors abandon as it covers tillites of varying ages. Basement complex derived clasts in the Mount Feather tillite. previously reported by these authors, could be inherited from the Jurassic Mawson Formation or the Permian Metschel Tillite but they still provide evidence that the Mount Feather tillite was deposited by a regional glaciation.

Between 16 and 19 June 1981 a large water pocket of volume 183 000 m3 burst from glacier de Tsidjiore Nouve. From hourly stream discharge and suspended sediment concentration observations a suspended sediment output of 1 674 × 103 kg was calculated. The transport of bed-load was estimated at 3 840 × 103 kg, hence a total quantity of around 5 500 × 103 kg of sediment were removed from the catchment, including the pro-glacial field, in the four days of the outburst.

The commonly used maximum speed and run-out equations for flowing avalanches given by Voellmy’s (1955) method are considered from a more general model proposed by Perla and others. (1980). Equations analogous to those of Voellmy are derived and the approximations are defined from the point of view of the more general model.

The mass concentration of falling snow ρs can be estimated from the snow-fall rate (accumulation rate) qv if there is no significant wind. Limited data show only a weak relation between fall velocity ut and qv (with qv in g/cm2 h). Consequently there is a strong correlation (r2 = 0.97) between ρs and qv (with qv in g/cm2 h). A simple relation of this kind is of practical value for certain technical purposes, and more data would be welcome.

The derivation of a constitutive law to describe large-scale sea-ice deformation commonly uses the so-called “flow rule”. This method introduces a mathematically imposed relationship between shear strength and dilatation which is not based on physical postulates. In this note a more general procedure is described which uses the Reiner–Rivlin equation as a starting point. The method is illustrated by deriving a particular constitutive law and applying it to a simple problem of sea ice blown against a shoreline.

Decisions on snow stability are strongly influenced by the presence of fresh avalanches. An analysis of 18 pairs of controlled avalanche paths in Colorado indicates most behave independently. The study supports the hypothesis that spatial variations in slope stability are common in unstable snow.

In the Nahoni Range of the northern Ogilvie Mountains, Yukon Territory, Canada, dissection channels are most markedly developed on valley sides facing the north and north-east. The extent of slope channelling is controlled by intensity of insolation and its influence on persistence of snow and ice. Upon the cooler north- and north-east-facing slopes, snow and ice remain well into midsummer; melt water is released over a long period and its discharge is restricted to narrow rivulets. In contrast, snow and ice on the warmer west- and south-facing slopes melt rapidly during the late spring months. The scree on these valley sides moves down-slope as a more or less uniform mass of water-saturated detritus.

The upper part of a Permo-Carboniferous glacial valley fill along the northern margin of the Karoo Basin includes glacio-lacustrine sediments. During the last glacier advance into the lake, a bedded heterogeneous diamictite facies was deposited and, on glacier retreat, a sequence of deformed siltstones with diamictite lenses and sandstone beds, varved shale and rhythmite shale was laid down. Black carbonaceous mud was deposited during the subsequent marine transgression. According to varve counts, the glacier receded from the valley over a period of 500 to 1 000 years and it is concluded that the overall ice-retreat rate during the Permo-Carboniferous deglaciation was relatively high.