Geophysical Surveys of the Campbell Glacier near the Mt Queensland Field Camp

Introduction

Geophysical surveys of the Campbell Glacier were carried out with radio echo-sounding (RES) and active audio magneto-telluric (AAMT) methods in order to detect ice thickness and structure, and to obtain information of the resistivity of the ice and underlying rock.

This work was planned subsequent to problems which made the original plans unfeasible. The RES equipment was originally to be used in the airborne surveys, but after the Dornier aircraft "Polar 2" was damaged on 16 December, the equipment was salvaged and adapted for ground-based surveys. The AAMT work was originally planned as part of helicopter-supported ground-check group to be based near the polar plateau, but it was found that the temperatures near the plateau were too low for the operation of the instruments and that the equipment was too bulky and heavy to be moved easily by helicopter.

Figure 15 shows the area covered by the survey.