Articles | Volume 19, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-303-2025
© Author(s) 2025. 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-19-303-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
24 Jan 2025
Research article |
| 24 Jan 2025
| 24 Jan 2025
Assessing the suitability of sites near Pine Island Glacier for subglacial bedrock drilling aimed at detecting Holocene retreat–readvance
British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK
John Woodward
Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK
Ian Nesbitt
School of Earth and Climate Sciences and the Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA
Kate Winter
Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK
Seth Campbell
School of Earth and Climate Sciences and the Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA
Keir A. Nichols
Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
Ryan A. Venturelli
Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Scott Braddock
School of Earth and Climate Sciences and the Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA
Brent M. Goehring
Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
Brenda Hall
School of Earth and Climate Sciences and the Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA
Dylan H. Rood
Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
Greg Balco
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P.O. Box 808, Livermore, CA 94551, USA
Berkeley Geochronology Center, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA
Data sets
Ground-penetrating radar surveys at three nunataks in the Hudson Mountains in the Amundsen Sea sector of West Antarctica, December 2019 John Woodward and Joanne S. Johnson https://doi.org/10.5285/9555694e-c9f5-4bf8-a556-2ad9d29e55c6
Short summary
Determining where and when the Antarctic ice sheet was smaller than present requires recovery and exposure dating of subglacial bedrock. Here we use ice sheet model outputs and field data (geological and glaciological observations, bedrock samples, and ground-penetrating radar) to assess the suitability for subglacial drilling of sites in the Hudson Mountains, West Antarctica. We find that no sites are perfect, but two are feasible, with the most suitable being Winkie Nunatak (74.86°S, 99.77°W).
Determining where and when the Antarctic ice sheet was smaller than present requires recovery...
