| Title | IGY to IPY, the U.S. Antarctic oversnow and airborne geophysical- glaciological research program from 1957 to 1964 from the view of a young graduate student |
| Author | Behrendt, J.C. |
| Author Affil | Behrendt, J.C., University of Colorado, INSTAAR, Boulder, CO |
| Source | Open-File Report - U. S. Geological Survey, No.OF2007-1047, Short Research Paper 008; Tenth international symposium on Antarctic earth sciences; Antarctica; a keystone in a changing world, Santa Barbara, CA, Aug. 26-Sept. 1, 2007, edited by A. Cooper and C. Raymond; International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences. Publisher: U. S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA, United States. ISSN: 0196- 1497 |
| Publication Date | 2007 |
| Notes | In English. 2 refs. Ant. Acc. No: 82848. CRREL Acc. No: 62000471 |
| Index Terms | aerial surveys; glacial geology; history; ice; measurement; models; snow; thickness; topography; Antarctica--Antarctic ice sheet; United States; airborne methods; Antarctic ice sheet; Antarctica; areal geology; geophysical methods; International Geophysical Year 1957-58; International Polar Year 2007-08; IPY 2007-08 Research Publications; research; USGS |
| Abstract | When 12 countries established scientific stations in Antarctica for the 1957-58 (IGY), the Cold War was at its height, seven countries had made claims in Antarctica, and the Antarctic Treaty was in the future. The only major field project of the U.S. IGY Antarctic program was series of oversnow traverses, starting in 1957, making seismic reflection ice soundings (and other geophysical measurements) and glaciological studies. The U.S.S.R. and France made similar traverses coordinated through the IGY. Although geology and topographic mapping were not part of the IGY program because of the claims issue and the possibility of mineral resources, the oversnow traverse parties did geologic work, during which unknown mountains were discovered. The oversnow traverses continued through 1966 and resulted in an excellent first approximation of the snow surface elevation, ice thickness and bed topography of Antarctica, as well as the mean annual temperature of that era and snow accumulation. |
| URL | http://hdl.handle.net/10.3133/of2007-1047.srp008 |
| Publication Type | conference paper or compendium article |
| Record ID | 279835 |