Finite-element method is used to determine the temperature distribution within the Erebus Glacier tongue based on information from short-term observations (Holdsworth, 1982). It is shown that, provided the up-stream temperature profile along the depth is known, steady-state assumptions are reliable for computing the temperature field within most of the ice mass at any given time for a glacier tongue. Numerical results from analyses of the Erebus Glacier tongue also indicate that the main

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... rt of heat is through advection as expected and, hence, a realistic estimate of the velocity field becomes important.