Firn Density and Stratigraphy Observations from USGS Benchmark Glaciers

This dataset contains observations of snow and firn density and stratigraphy from Site EC on Wolverine Glacier. Site EC is located in the accumulation zone on the northwest flank of the upper glacier at 1350m. Cores were recovered using a FELICS corer to approximately 25m depth at the end of the accumulation season and the end of ablation season starting in 2016. Additional cores were drilled throughout the ablation seasons of 2016 and 2017. The cores were processed in the field. The dataset includes depth-density profiles, ice-lens stratigraphy, and annual-layer depths. Density was calculated by measuring the mass and length of each core section (the corer retrieves cores with uniform diameter, which was measured on randomly selected core sections). Ice lenses were identified by visual inspection. Annual layer depths were determined by identifying dark layers in the core, which are interpreted to be the end-of-melt-season surfaces.

Data and Resources

Field Value
accessLevel public
bureauCode {010:12}
catalog_@context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
catalog_@id https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
catalog_conformsTo https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
catalog_describedBy https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/usgs-asc545
metadata_type geospatial
modified 2025-05-17T00:00:00Z
old-spatial -148.9142, 60.4260, -148.9141, 60.4261
publisher U.S. Geological Survey
resource-type Dataset
source_datajson_identifier true
source_hash 05d672673c88b2f5e6b1c6c30c3d40769bd5b77da11f173fe1e4e4eb0b88495c
source_schema_version 1.1
spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-148.9142, 60.4260], [-148.9142, 60.4261], [ -148.9141, 60.4261], [ -148.9141, 60.4260], [-148.9142, 60.4260]]]}
theme {geospatial}
Groups
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • National Provider
  • North America
Tags
  • AmeriGEO
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • CKAN
  • GEO
  • GEOSS
  • National
  • North America
  • United States
  • ablation-zones-accumulation-zones
  • alaska
  • cryosphere
  • geophysics
  • geoscientificinformation
  • glaciation
  • glacier-mass-balance-ice-sheet-mass-balance
  • glaciers
  • glaciers-ice-sheets
  • glaciology
  • snow-and-ice-cover
  • usgs-asc545
  • wolverine-glacier
isopen False
license_id notspecified
license_title License not specified
maintainer U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center
maintainer_email gs-ak_asc_datamanagers@usgs.gov
metadata_created 2025-09-24T11:54:01.507607
metadata_modified 2025-09-24T11:54:01.507617
notes This dataset contains observations of snow and firn density and stratigraphy from Site EC on Wolverine Glacier. Site EC is located in the accumulation zone on the northwest flank of the upper glacier at 1350m. Cores were recovered using a FELICS corer to approximately 25m depth at the end of the accumulation season and the end of ablation season starting in 2016. Additional cores were drilled throughout the ablation seasons of 2016 and 2017. The cores were processed in the field. The dataset includes depth-density profiles, ice-lens stratigraphy, and annual-layer depths. Density was calculated by measuring the mass and length of each core section (the corer retrieves cores with uniform diameter, which was measured on randomly selected core sections). Ice lenses were identified by visual inspection. Annual layer depths were determined by identifying dark layers in the core, which are interpreted to be the end-of-melt-season surfaces.
num_resources 2
num_tags 21
title Firn Density and Stratigraphy Observations from USGS Benchmark Glaciers