Fountain Glacier basal ice zoneThe basal ice zone was examined at the right-hand margin and terminus of the glacier. Basal ice, rich in debris, and showing well-developed shearing and folding structures, is well exposed in cliff sections, sometimes showing connection with the bed. Unusually, a layer of white ice, a few metres thick, underlies this basal ice in places. We think this may be river water encroaching the bed and freezing in winter. | |||
 The multiple layers of basal debris in the terminal cliff of the glacier testify to the complex deformation processes (folding and thrusting) which raise the debris to higher-level positions. |  A fallen block at the left-hand margin reveals the texture of sediment-rich basal ice. Width of view about 30 cm. |  Basal ice here is several metres above the base, possibly as a result of freeze on of clean ice from meltwater from a nearby subglacial stream. |  Zone of complex folding and deformation around a boulder in basal ice. The stone at left measures about 30 cm horizontally |
 A 2m-diameter block penetrates into clean ice below a prominent basal ice band near the left-hand margin of the glacier. Note how the layering in the ice bends around the boulder. |  An isoclinal fold of coarse bubbly ice enclosed by debris-bearing basal ice. |  Complex deformation around a stone in strongly sheared basal ice. |  Isoclinal folding and deformation around a boulder in basal ice, left-hand margin. The ruler is 1 metre long. |
 Detail of the folding in the previous image. |  The contact zone at the left-hand margin between the basal ice at the bed of the glacier, and the till beneath which has melted out from the basal ice. Height of section about 2 m. |  Water run-off from the glacier surface and leaky structures adds to the wet unstable basally derived till. Height of section is about 2 m. |  Detail of about 3 m of white ice below a basal debris layer at the left-hand margin of the glacier. It is most likely formed by accretion from clean meltwater associated with an ice-marginal stream. |
| Photos Michael Hambrey, July 2014 | |||