Blue Ice

Definition

Localized bare-ice regions on the Antarctic polar plateau.

Blue ice areas, which until now have only been found on the Antarctic ice sheet, are formed when wind conditions can erode the snow. These are often more localized regions, usually only a few square kilometers in area, where the topography has induced a surface wind field that favors continuous erosion of snow, leaving bare (blue) ice. Usually, but not exclusively, these blue ice areas are found in the wake of mountains protruding through the ice surface. Over the course of time, strong, turbulent surface winds erode the entire snow deck. Once the ice layers are surfaced, snow is unable to stick to the smooth ice, preventing the blue ice area from being covered by snow again. Blue ice areas are characterized by subzero temperatures, so that melting is insignificant, which differentiates them from regular glacial ablations zones.

The persistence of blue ice areas is reinforced by strong sublimation rates. Since blue...