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We model the role of katabatic winds in the formation and maintenance of ablue ice area in Scharffenbergbotnen valley, Antarctica, using the finiteelement code Elmer. The high-horizontal-resolution (50–200 m)numerical simulations of the local wind flow from katabatic wind fronts showhigh spatial variability in wind-impact patterns and good congruence betweenplaces with high near-surface wind speeds and the blue ice area. In additionwe perform wind simulations on an altered glacier geometry that resembles thethicker ice cover at the Late Glacial Maximum (LGM). These simulationsindicate that the pronounced spatial wind-impact patterns depend on present-day geometry and did not occur during the LGM. This leads to the conclusionthat the formation of the inner blue ice area of the Scharffenbergbotnenvalley started only after the lowering of the ice surface, i.e. after theLGM. Experiments with smoothed surface topography suggest that detailedpositions of the high wind regions, and hence individual blue ice fields, mayhave varied as the ice sheet lowered. The simulation results obtained withthe present-day geometry were fortuitously confirmed by the destruction of afield camp located in a high-wind-speed area and its subsequentredistribution to low-velocity areas. The experiments and the fieldobservations are consistent with localized violent katabatic events ratherthan synoptic-scale storms, playing the dominant role in the formation andmaintenance of this and perhaps many blue ice areas

Numerical simulations and observations of the role of katabatic winds in the creation and maintenance of Scharffenbergbotnen blue ice area, Antarctica