Articles | Volume 18, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3699-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3699-2024
Research article
 | 
20 Aug 2024
Research article |  | 20 Aug 2024

Misidentified subglacial lake beneath the Devon Ice Cap, Canadian Arctic: a new interpretation from seismic and electromagnetic data

Siobhan F. Killingbeck, Anja Rutishauser, Martyn J. Unsworth, Ashley Dubnick, Alison S. Criscitiello, James Killingbeck, Christine F. Dow, Tim Hill, Adam D. Booth, Brittany Main, and Eric Brossier

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Cited articles

Booth, A. D., Clark, R. A., Kulessa, B., Murray, T., Carter, J., Doyle, S., and Hubbard, A.: Thin-layer effects in glaciological seismic amplitude-versus-angle (AVA) analysis: implications for characterising a subglacial till unit, Russell Glacier, West Greenland, The Cryosphere, 6, 909–922, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-6-909-2012, 2012. 
Bowling, J. S., Livingstone, S. J., Sole, A. J., and Chu, W.: Distribution and dynamics of Greenland subglacial lakes, Nat. Commun., 10, 2810, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10821-w, 2019. 
Brown, W. S.: Physical properties of seawater. Springer handbook of ocean engineering, 101–110, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16649-0_5, 2016. 
Burgess, D. O., Sharp, M. J., Mair, D. W., Dowdeswell, J. A., and Benham, T. J.: Flow dynamics and iceberg calving rates of Devon Ice Cap, Nunavut, Canada, J. Glaciol., 51, 219–230, https://doi.org/10.3189/172756505781829430, 2005. 
Caldwell, T. G., Bibby, H. M., and Brown, C.: The magnetotelluric phase tensor, Geophys. J. Int., 158, 457–469, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-246x.2004.02281.x, 2004. 
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Short summary
A subglacial lake was proposed to exist beneath Devon Ice Cap in the Canadian Arctic based on the analysis of airborne data. Our study presents a new interpretation of the subglacial material beneath the Devon Ice Cap from surface-based geophysical data. We show that there is no evidence of subglacial water, and the subglacial lake has likely been misidentified. Re-evaluation of the airborne data shows that overestimation of a critical processing parameter has likely occurred in prior studies.