A radar transparent layer in a temperate valley glacier: Bench Glacier, Alaska

Radar surveys of Bench Glacier, Alaska, collected over five field seasons between 2002 and 2006 reveal a surface layer of radar transparent ice in this temperate valley glacier. The transparent layer covers the up-glacier half of the ablation zone and is defined by a distinct lack of the radar scattering events considered typical of temperate ice. Radar scattering ice underlies the transparent zone, and extends to the surface elsewhere on the glacier. We observed the layering in constant offset radar surveys conducted with characteristic frequencies ranging from 5 MHz to 100 MHz. The radar transparent layer extends from the Surface to 20 m depth on average, but up to 50 m in some places. Bench Glacier's transparent layer appears similar to the cold surface layer of polythermal glaciers, however, observations in over 50 boreholes on Bench Glacier suggest there is no cold ice corresponding to the radar transparent layer. We conclude that spatially extensive radar-transparent layers normally used to identify cold ice in polythermal glaciers are present in some temperate glaciers. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.