Fractures are important structural features that affect the stress condition and stability of ice shelves. Previous studies have mainly focused on the measurement of fractures in the horizontal dimension. However, the vertical morphology of fractures could also be potentially important in determining their evolution and role in ice shelf stability. In this regard, the dense and high-resolution surface elevation measurements collected by the Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) provide an excellent opportunity for studying fractures in the vertical dimension over a regional scale. Here we developed an object-oriented algorithm to automatically detect and characterize fracture features (including rifts, surface fractures, and the surface expressions of basal fractures) from ICESat-2 data. We successfully applied the algorithm to ICESat-2 L3A Land Ice Height (ATL06) data over the Amery Ice Shelf in East Antarctica, and retrieved the vertical structural information of two major fracture fields. The detected fracture features match well with the visible fracture lines in Landsat-8 satellite imagery, and the edges of fracture features are well-captured from the ATL06 data. We analyzed the fracture patterns in terms of surface depth, width, vertical shape, length, and orientation. We found that the fracture feature depth is a key factor determining the formation of new fractures and the spatial pattern of depth is closely related to rift formation. We anticipate that further application of the object-oriented method over other ice shelves will produce important insights regarding fracture formation and ice shelf vulnerability by combining ICESat-2-derived vertical information with the horizontal structure retrieved from satellite imagery.

断裂是影响冰架应力状况和稳定性的重要结构特征。先前的研究主要集中在水平方向裂缝的测量上。但是，裂缝的垂直形态对于确定其演化和在冰架稳定性中的作用也可能具有重要意义。在这方面，由冰，云和陆地高程卫星2（ICESat-2）收集的密集且高分辨率的地面高程测量值为研究区域范围内垂直方向的裂缝提供了极好的机会。在这里，我们开发了一种面向对象的算法，可以根据ICESat-2数据自动检测和表征裂缝特征（包括裂口，表面裂缝和基底裂缝的表面表达）。我们成功地将该算法应用于南极东部阿默里冰架上的ICESat-2 L3A陆地冰高（ATL06）数据，并检索了两个主要裂缝场的垂直结构信息。检测到的裂缝特征与Landsat-8卫星图像中可见的裂缝线非常匹配，并且从ATL06数据中很好地捕获了裂缝特征的边缘。我们根据表面深度，宽度，垂直形状，长度和方向分析了裂缝模式。我们发现，裂缝特征深度是决定新裂缝形成的关键因素，深度的空间格局与裂谷形成密切相关。