Articles | Volume 14, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4507-2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4507-2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
10 Dec 2020
Research article |
| 10 Dec 2020
| 10 Dec 2020
Subglacial lakes and hydrology across the Ellsworth Subglacial Highlands, West Antarctica
Felipe Napoleoni
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
Stewart S. R. Jamieson
Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
Neil Ross
School of Geography, Politics and Sociology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK
Michael J. Bentley
Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
Andrés Rivera
Departamento de Geografía, Universidad de Chile, Portugal 84, Santiago, Chile
Instituto de Conservación, Biodiversidad y Territorio, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales y Recursos Naturales, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile
Andrew M. Smith
British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK
Martin J. Siegert
Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Grantham Institute, Imperial College London, South Kensington, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
Guy J. G. Paxman
Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York, USA
Guisella Gacitúa
Instituto de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile
José A. Uribe
Centro de Estudios Científicos, Arturo Prat 514, Valdivia, Chile
Rodrigo Zamora
Centro de Estudios Científicos, Arturo Prat 514, Valdivia, Chile
Alex M. Brisbourne
British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK
David G. Vaughan
British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK
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James W. Marschalek, Edward Gasson, Tina van de Flierdt, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, Martin J. Siegert, and Liam Holder
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Revised manuscript not accepted
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Ice sheet models can help predict how Antarctica’s ice sheets respond to environmental change; such models benefit from comparison to geological data. Here, we use ice sheet model results, plus other data, to predict the erosion of Antarctic debris and trace its transport to where it is deposited on the ocean floor. This allows the results of ice sheet modelling to be directly and quantitively compared to real-world data, helping to reduce uncertainty regarding Antarctic sea level contribution.
James A. Smith, Louise Callard, Michael J. Bentley, Stewart S. R. Jamieson, Maria Luisa Sánchez-Montes, Timothy P. Lane, Jeremy M. Lloyd, Erin L. McClymont, Christopher M. Darvill, Brice R. Rea, Colm O'Cofaigh, Pauline Gulliver, Werner Ehrmann, Richard S. Jones, and David H. Roberts
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Manuscript not accepted for further review
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This paper describes the drainage (and refill) of a subglacial lake on the Antarctic Peninsula resulting in the collapse of the overlying ice into the newly formed subglacial cavity. It provides evidence of an active hydrological network under the region's glaciers and close coupling between surface climate processes and the base of the ice.
Alice C. Frémand, Julien A. Bodart, Tom A. Jordan, Fausto Ferraccioli, Carl Robinson, Hugh F. J. Corr, Helen J. Peat, Robert G. Bingham, and David G. Vaughan
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 3379–3410, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3379-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3379-2022, 2022
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This paper presents the release of large swaths of airborne geophysical data (including gravity, magnetics, and radar) acquired between 1994 and 2020 over Antarctica by the British Antarctic Survey. These include a total of 64 datasets from 24 different surveys, amounting to >30 % of coverage over the Antarctic Ice Sheet. This paper discusses how these data were acquired and processed and presents the methods used to standardize and publish the data in an interactive and reproducible manner.
Erin L. McClymont, Michael J. Bentley, Dominic A. Hodgson, Charlotte L. Spencer-Jones, Thomas Wardley, Martin D. West, Ian W. Croudace, Sonja Berg, Darren R. Gröcke, Gerhard Kuhn, Stewart S. R. Jamieson, Louise Sime, and Richard A. Phillips
Clim. Past, 18, 381–403, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-381-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-381-2022, 2022
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Sea ice is important for our climate system and for the unique ecosystems it supports. We present a novel way to understand past Antarctic sea-ice ecosystems: using the regurgitated stomach contents of snow petrels, which nest above the ice sheet but feed in the sea ice. During a time when sea ice was more extensive than today (24 000–30 000 years ago), we show that snow petrel diet had varying contributions of fish and krill, which we interpret to show changing sea-ice distribution.
Jonathan Oberreuter, Edwin Badillo-Rivera, Edwin Loarte, Katy Medina, Alejo Cochachin, and José Uribe
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2021-336, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2021-336, 2022
Manuscript not accepted for further review
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We present a representative set of data of interpreted ice thickness and ice surface elevation of the ablation area of the Artesonraju glacier between 2012 and 2020. The results show a maximum depth of 235 ± 18 m and a decreasing mean depth ranging from 134 ± 18 m in 2013 to 110 ± 18 m in 2020. Additionally, we estimate a mean ice thickness change rate of −4.2 ± 3.2 m yr−1 between 2014 and 2020, which is in agreement with the elevation change in the same period of −3.2 ± 0.2 m yr−1.
Jamey Stutz, Andrew Mackintosh, Kevin Norton, Ross Whitmore, Carlo Baroni, Stewart S. R. Jamieson, Richard S. Jones, Greg Balco, Maria Cristina Salvatore, Stefano Casale, Jae Il Lee, Yeong Bae Seong, Robert McKay, Lauren J. Vargo, Daniel Lowry, Perry Spector, Marcus Christl, Susan Ivy Ochs, Luigia Di Nicola, Maria Iarossi, Finlay Stuart, and Tom Woodruff
The Cryosphere, 15, 5447–5471, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5447-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5447-2021, 2021
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Understanding the long-term behaviour of ice sheets is essential to projecting future changes due to climate change. In this study, we use rocks deposited along the margin of the David Glacier, one of the largest glacier systems in the world, to reveal a rapid thinning event initiated over 7000 years ago and endured for ~ 2000 years. Using physical models, we show that subglacial topography and ocean heat are important drivers for change along this sector of the Antarctic Ice Sheet.
Alex M. Brisbourne, Michael Kendall, Sofia-Katerina Kufner, Thomas S. Hudson, and Andrew M. Smith
The Cryosphere, 15, 3443–3458, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3443-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3443-2021, 2021
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How ice sheets flowed in the past is written into the structure and texture of the ice sheet itself. Measuring this structure and properties of the ice can help us understand the recent behaviour of the ice sheets. We use a relatively new technique, not previously attempted in Antarctica, to measure the seismic vibrations of a fibre optic cable down a borehole. We demonstrate the potential of this technique to unravel past ice flow and see hints of these complex signals from the ice flow itself.
Elizabeth Ruth Thomas, Guisella Gacitúa, Joel B. Pedro, Amy Constance Faith King, Bradley Markle, Mariusz Potocki, and Dorothea Elisabeth Moser
The Cryosphere, 15, 1173–1186, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1173-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1173-2021, 2021
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Here we present the first-ever radar and ice core data from the sub-Antarctic islands of Bouvet Island, Peter I Island, and Young Island. These islands have the potential to record past climate in one of the most data-sparse regions on earth. Despite their northerly location, surface melting is generally low, and the upper layer of the ice at most sites is undisturbed. We estimate that a 100 m ice core drilled on these islands could capture climate over the past 100–200 years.
Bertie W. J. Miles, Jim R. Jordan, Chris R. Stokes, Stewart S. R. Jamieson, G. Hilmar Gudmundsson, and Adrian Jenkins
The Cryosphere, 15, 663–676, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-663-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-663-2021, 2021
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We provide a historical overview of changes in Denman Glacier's flow speed, structure and calving events since the 1960s. Based on these observations, we perform a series of numerical modelling experiments to determine the likely cause of Denman's acceleration since the 1970s. We show that grounding line retreat, ice shelf thinning and the detachment of Denman's ice tongue from a pinning point are the most likely causes of the observed acceleration.
Guisella Gacitúa, Christoph Schneider, Jorge Arigony, Inti González, Ricardo Jaña, and Gino Casassa
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 231–236, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-231-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-231-2021, 2021
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We performed the first successful ice thickness measurements using terrestrial ground-penetrating radar in the ablation area of Schiaparelli Glacier (Cordillera Darwin, Tierra del Fuego, Chile). Data are fundamental to understand glaciers dynamics, constrain ice dynamical modelling, and predict glacier evolution. Results show a valley-shaped bedrock below current sea level; thus further retreat of Schiaparelli Glacier will probably lead to an enlarged and strongly over-deepened proglacial lake.
William D. Smith, Stuart A. Dunning, Stephen Brough, Neil Ross, and Jon Telling
Earth Surf. Dynam., 8, 1053–1065, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-1053-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-1053-2020, 2020
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Glacial landslides are difficult to detect and likely underestimated due to rapid covering or dispersal. Without improved detection rates we cannot constrain their impact on glacial dynamics or their potential climatically driven increases in occurrence. Here we present a new open-access tool (GERALDINE) that helps a user detect 92 % of these events over the past 38 years on a global scale. We demonstrate its ability by identifying two new, large glacial landslides in the Hayes Range, Alaska.
Jennifer F. Arthur, Chris R. Stokes, Stewart S. R. Jamieson, J. Rachel Carr, and Amber A. Leeson
The Cryosphere, 14, 4103–4120, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4103-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4103-2020, 2020
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Surface meltwater lakes can flex and fracture ice shelves, potentially leading to ice shelf break-up. A long-term record of lake evolution on Shackleton Ice Shelf is produced using optical satellite imagery and compared to surface air temperature and modelled surface melt. The results reveal that lake clustering on the ice shelf is linked to melt-enhancing feedbacks. Peaks in total lake area and volume closely correspond with intense snowmelt events rather than with warmer seasonal temperatures.
Xiangbin Cui, Hafeez Jeofry, Jamin S. Greenbaum, Jingxue Guo, Lin Li, Laura E. Lindzey, Feras A. Habbal, Wei Wei, Duncan A. Young, Neil Ross, Mathieu Morlighem, Lenneke M. Jong, Jason L. Roberts, Donald D. Blankenship, Sun Bo, and Martin J. Siegert
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 2765–2774, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2765-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2765-2020, 2020
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We present a topographic digital elevation model (DEM) for Princess Elizabeth Land (PEL), East Antarctica. The DEM covers an area of approximately 900 000 km2 and was built from radio-echo sounding data collected in four campaigns since 2015. Previously, to generate the Bedmap2 topographic product, PEL’s bed was characterised from low-resolution satellite gravity data across an otherwise large (>200 km wide) data-free zone.
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Short summary
Subglacial water is important for ice sheet dynamics and stability. Despite this, there is a lack of detailed subglacial-water characterisation in West Antarctica (WA). We report 33 new subglacial lakes. Additionally, a new digital elevation model of basal topography was built and used to simulate the subglacial hydrological network in WA. The simulated subglacial hydrological catchments of Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers do not match precisely with their ice surface catchments.
Subglacial water is important for ice sheet dynamics and stability. Despite this, there is a...
