Articles | Volume 17, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2645-2023
© Author(s) 2023. 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-17-2645-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
11 Jul 2023
Research article |
| 11 Jul 2023
| 11 Jul 2023
Towards modelling of corrugation ridges at ice-sheet grounding lines
British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK
Katarzyna L. P. Warburton
Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University
of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA
Alastair G. C. Graham
College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St Petersburg,
FL, USA
Jerome A. Neufeld
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University
of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Duncan R. Hewitt
Department of Mathematics, University College London, London, UK
Julian A. Dowdeswell
Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Robert D. Larter
British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK
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Linking ocean and ice sheet processes allows prediction of sea level change. Ice shelves form a floating buffer between the ice–ocean systems, but the water depth beneath is often a mystery, leaving a critical blind spot in our understanding of how these systems interact. Here, we use airborne measurements of gravity to reveal the bathymetry under the ice shelves flanking the rapidly changing Thwaites Glacier and adjacent glacier systems, providing new insights and data for future models.
Kelly A. Hogan, Robert D. Larter, Alastair G. C. Graham, Robert Arthern, James D. Kirkham, Rebecca L. Totten, Tom A. Jordan, Rachel Clark, Victoria Fitzgerald, Anna K. Wåhlin, John B. Anderson, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, Frank O. Nitsche, Lauren Simkins, James A. Smith, Karsten Gohl, Jan Erik Arndt, Jongkuk Hong, and Julia Wellner
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The sea-floor geometry around the rapidly changing Thwaites Glacier is a key control on warm ocean waters reaching the ice shelf and grounding zone beyond. This area was previously unsurveyed due to icebergs and sea-ice cover. The International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration mapped this area for the first time in 2019. The data reveal troughs over 1200 m deep and, as this region is thought to have only ungrounded recently, provide key insights into the morphology beneath the grounded ice sheet.
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Short summary
Delicate sea floor ridges – corrugation ridges – that form by tidal motion at Antarctic grounding lines record extremely fast retreat of ice streams in the past. Here we use a mathematical model, constrained by real-world observations from Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica, to explore how corrugation ridges form. We identify
till extrusion, whereby deformable sediment is squeezed out from under the ice like toothpaste as it settles down at each low-tide position, as the most likely process.
Delicate sea floor ridges – corrugation ridges – that form by tidal motion at Antarctic...
