Surface topography and ice flow in the vicinity of the EDML deep-drilling site, Antarctica

Interpretation of ice-core records requires accurate knowledge of the past and present surface topography and stress-strain fields. The European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA) drilling site (75.0025 degrees S, 0.0684 degrees E; 2891.7 m) in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, is located in the immediate vicinity of a transient and forking ice divide. A digital elevation model is determined from the combination of kinematic GPS measurements with the GLAS12 datasets from the ICESat. Based on a network of stakes, surveyed with static GPS, the velocity field around the drilling site is calculated. The annual mean velocity magnitude of 12 survey points amounts to 0.74 m a(-1). Flow directions mainly vary according to their distance from the ice divide. Surface strain rates are determined from a pentagon-shaped stake network with one center point close to the drilling site. The strain field is characterized by along-flow compression, lateral dilatation and vertical layer thinning.