ALBERT

Description: Observations on the onset of the breeding season in a flock ofSouthdown ewes in subtropical Australia (latitude 27° S.) indicated that the mean date of onset during the years 1962-65 was 3 March, with annual means ranging from 11 February to 17 March. There was evidence that, under some circumstances, ovarian activity may be initiated before the summer solstice.The onset of the breeding season was later in ewe lambs than in yearling and adult ewes and the mean age at puberty was 239 days.

Description: The effect upon the onset of reproductive activity of exposure of ewe lambs of three British breeds (Border Leicester, Southdown, Suffolk) to constant long daylight hours (16 h light/8 h dark) was studied.Oestrus, ovulation and conception were depressed but not inhibited; however, only the incidence of conception was significantly less than in the control group. Athough the treatment retarded the onset of oestrous activity, the age at first oestrus was still within the normal age range for puberty.

Description: It is difficult to deduce sliding properties from the numerical modelling of ordinary glaciers because the flow law of ice is still not known well enough to clearly differentiate sliding from internal deformation of the ice. For glaciers undergoing high-speed surges it appears that the majority of the total speed is due to sliding. Furthermore the average basal shear stress of the ice mass is lowered during the surge. This suggests that surging glaciers can be modelled by incorporating a sliding friction law which has the effective friction coefficient decreasing for high velocities. A relation of this type has been found for ice sliding on granite at −0.5°C by Barnes and others (1971) and has also been obtained for rough slabs with ice at the pressure-melting point by Budd and others (1979).A simple two-dimensional model was developed by Budd and McInnes (1974) and Budd (1975), which was found to exhibit the typical periodic surge-like characteristics of real ice masses. Since the sliding-stress relation for the low velocities and stresses was not known, and was not so important for the surges, it was decided to use the condition of gross equilibrium (i.e. that the ice mass as a whole does not accelerate) together with a single-parameter relation for the way in which the friction decreases with stress and velocity to prescribe the basal shear-stress distribution. The low-stress-velocity relation can thus be obtained as a result.This two-dimensional model has now been parameterized to take account of the three-dimensional aspects of real ice masses. A number of ice masses have since been closely matched by the model including three well-known surging ice masses: Lednik Medvezhiy, Variegated Glacier, and Bruarjökull. Since the flow properties of ice are so poorly known—especially for longitudinal stress and strain-rates—the model has been run with two unknown parameters: one a flow-law parameter (η) and the other a sliding parameter (ø). The model is run over a wide range of these two parameters to see if a good match can be made to the real ice masses and if so what the values of the parameters η and ø are for best fit.The matching of the three above ice masses gave very similar values for each of the two parameters η and ø, the value of η being within the range of values expected for the flow properties of temperate ice as determined by laboratory experiments. Using the same values of η and ø it is found that the ordinary glaciers modelled so far do not develop surging but that they could do if the value of ø were increased or if the mass-balance input were sufficiently increased.For Lednik Medvezhiy a detailed analysis of the friction coefficient with velocity was carried out and it was found that the values required for best fit showed a very close agreement to the sliding friction curve of Barnes and others (1971) at −0.5°C. It is concluded that this type of sliding relation can account for the major features of glacier surge phenomena.Finally it is apparent that the numerical modelling technique can be used very effectively to test any large-scale bulk sliding relation by the analysis of real surges of ice masses and in addition can provide further insight into the sliding relation in association with other stresses in the ice mass.

Description: It is difficult to deduce sliding properties from the numerical modelling of ordinary glaciers because the flow law of ice is still not known well enough to clearly differentiate sliding from internal deformation of the ice. For glaciers undergoing high-speed surges it appears that the majority of the total speed is due to sliding. Furthermore the average basal shear stress of the ice mass is lowered during the surge. This suggests that surging glaciers can be modelled by incorporating a sliding friction law which has the effective friction coefficient decreasing for high velocities. A relation of this type has been found for ice sliding on granite at −0.5°C by Barnes and others (1971) and has also been obtained for rough slabs with ice at the pressure-melting point by Budd and others (1979). A simple two-dimensional model was developed by Budd and McInnes (1974) and Budd (1975), which was found to exhibit the typical periodic surge-like characteristics of real ice masses. Since the sliding-stress relation for the low velocities and stresses was not known, and was not so important for the surges, it was decided to use the condition of gross equilibrium (i.e. that the ice mass as a whole does not accelerate) together with a single-parameter relation for the way in which the friction decreases with stress and velocity to prescribe the basal shear-stress distribution. The low-stress-velocity relation can thus be obtained as a result. This two-dimensional model has now been parameterized to take account of the three-dimensional aspects of real ice masses. A number of ice masses have since been closely matched by the model including three well-known surging ice masses: Lednik Medvezhiy, Variegated Glacier, and Bruarjökull. Since the flow properties of ice are so poorly known—especially for longitudinal stress and strain-rates—the model has been run with two unknown parameters: one a flow-law parameter (η) and the other a sliding parameter (ø). The model is run over a wide range of these two parameters to see if a good match can be made to the real ice masses and if so what the values of the parameters η and ø are for best fit. The matching of the three above ice masses gave very similar values for each of the two parameters η and ø, the value of η being within the range of values expected for the flow properties of temperate ice as determined by laboratory experiments. Using the same values of η and ø it is found that the ordinary glaciers modelled so far do not develop surging but that they could do if the value of ø were increased or if the mass-balance input were sufficiently increased. For Lednik Medvezhiy a detailed analysis of the friction coefficient with velocity was carried out and it was found that the values required for best fit showed a very close agreement to the sliding friction curve of Barnes and others (1971) at −0.5°C. It is concluded that this type of sliding relation can account for the major features of glacier surge phenomena. Finally it is apparent that the numerical modelling technique can be used very effectively to test any large-scale bulk sliding relation by the analysis of real surges of ice masses and in addition can provide further insight into the sliding relation in association with other stresses in the ice mass.

Description: Mount Dromedary pluton is one of several predominantly monzonite plutons and smaller intrusive bodies which constitute the Dromedary igneous complex in southeastern New South Wales. The pluton exhibits a striking arrangement of petrographically, but not always chemically, distinct zones ranging from mafic monzonite at the outside to quartz monzonite in the centre. The rocks display a mineralogical and geochemical integrity which indicates a consanguineous relationship. Minor compositional discontinuities between zones, together with observed and inferred minor intrusive zone boundaries, suggest that each zone has to some extent evolved independently. Negative Eu anomalies in REE abundance patterns show that some of the zones have been affected by fractionation of feldspar, but complementary accumulates are not found at the present levels of exposure. The pattern of zoning can be explained by a process of shallow fractional crystallization in which variations within zones are the result of lateral accretion of alkali feldspar as well as settling and/or lateral accretion of mafic phases at lower levels in the intrusion and upward displacement of fractionated magma. The parental magma of the pluton probaby originated by partial melting of an alkali basalt composition with an amphibolite mineralogy at the base of the crust.

Description: The area of West Antarctica which drains into the Ross Ice Shelf is examined for the purpose of understanding its dynamics and developing a numerical model to study its reaction to environmental changes. A high resolution 20 km grid is used to compile a database for surface and bedrock elevation, accumulation, and surface temperatures. Balance velocities Vb are computed and found to approximate observed velocities. These balance velocities are used with basal shear stress and ice thickness above buoyancy Z* to derive parameters k2, p and q for a sliddinq relation of the form Reasonable matching is obtained for p = 1, q = 2 and k2= 5 × 106 m3 bar−1 a−1. This sliding relation is then used in a first complete dynamic and thermodynamic velocity calculation for West Antarctica and for an improved simulation of the whole Antarctic ice sheet.

Description: The area of West Antarctica which drains into the Ross Ice Shelf is examined for the purpose of understanding its dynamics and developing a numerical model to study its reaction to environmental changes. A high resolution 20 km grid is used to compile a database for surface and bedrock elevation, accumulation, and surface temperatures. Balance velocities Vbare computed and found to approximate observed velocities. These balance velocities are used with basal shear stress and ice thickness above buoyancy Z*to derive parameters k2, p and q for a sliddinq relation of the formReasonable matching is obtained for p = 1, q = 2 and k2= 5 × 106m3bar−1a−1. This sliding relation is then used in a first complete dynamic and thermodynamic velocity calculation for West Antarctica and for an improved simulation of the whole Antarctic ice sheet.

Description: The results from long-term simulations with a climate model using historical sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are used to study Antarctic accumulation rates and their relationship, or sensitivity, to temperature changes. The model used has a horizontal resolution of approximately 2° by 2°. The SST data comprise reconstructed monthly values on a global grid for the period 1950-91. The results yield an estimate for the area-averaged value accumulation rate over grounded ice of 160-180 mm w.e. a−1. The spatial pattern of the simulated trends over the period of integration indicates that the results for much of East Antarctica are consistent with evidence deduced from ice cores. The ice-sheet surface is estimated to have warmed by +0.73°C (a rate of +0.18°C per decade), while the accumulation rate is estimated to have increased by + 7.7 mm a−1 (a rate of + 1.9 mm a−1 per decade). The estimate for sensitivity is +12.5 mm a−1 per degree of warming, which can be interpreted as about -0.4 mm of sea level per year.