An englacial hydrologic system of brine within a cold glacier: Blood Falls, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica
ABSTRACT Taylor Glacier hosts an active englacial hydrologic system that feeds Blood Falls, a supraglacial outflow of iron-rich subglacial brine at the terminus, despite mean annual air temperatures of −17°C and limited surface melt. Taylor Glacier is an outlet glacier of the East Antarctic ice shee...
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Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2017.16 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143017000168 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/jog.2017.16 2024-05-19T07:32:31+00:00 An englacial hydrologic system of brine within a cold glacier: Blood Falls, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica BADGELEY, JESSICA A. PETTIT, ERIN C. CARR, CHRISTINA G. TULACZYK, SLAWEK MIKUCKI, JILL A. LYONS, W. BERRY 2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2017.16 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143017000168 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Journal of Glaciology volume 63, issue 239, page 387-400 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 journal-article 2017 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2017.16 2024-05-02T06:50:56Z ABSTRACT Taylor Glacier hosts an active englacial hydrologic system that feeds Blood Falls, a supraglacial outflow of iron-rich subglacial brine at the terminus, despite mean annual air temperatures of −17°C and limited surface melt. Taylor Glacier is an outlet glacier of the East Antarctic ice sheet that terminates in Lake Bonney, McMurdo Dry Valleys. To image and map the brine feeding Blood Falls, we used radio echo sounding to delineate a subhorizontal zone of englacial brine upstream from Blood Falls and elongated in the ice flow direction. We estimate volumetric brine content in excess of 13% within 2 m of the central axis of this zone, and likely much higher at its center. Brine content decreases, but remains detectable, up to 45 m away along some transects. Hence, we infer a network of subparallel basal crevasses allowing injection of pressurized subglacial brine into the ice. Subglacial brine is routed towards Blood Falls by hydraulic potential gradients associated with deeply incised supraglacial valleys. The brine remains liquid within the subglacial and englacial environments through latent heat of freezing coupled with elevated salt content. Our findings suggest that cold glaciers could support freshwater hydrologic systems through localized warming by latent heat alone. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet Journal of Glaciology McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Glacier Cambridge University Press Journal of Glaciology 63 239 387 400 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
ABSTRACT Taylor Glacier hosts an active englacial hydrologic system that feeds Blood Falls, a supraglacial outflow of iron-rich subglacial brine at the terminus, despite mean annual air temperatures of −17°C and limited surface melt. Taylor Glacier is an outlet glacier of the East Antarctic ice sheet that terminates in Lake Bonney, McMurdo Dry Valleys. To image and map the brine feeding Blood Falls, we used radio echo sounding to delineate a subhorizontal zone of englacial brine upstream from Blood Falls and elongated in the ice flow direction. We estimate volumetric brine content in excess of 13% within 2 m of the central axis of this zone, and likely much higher at its center. Brine content decreases, but remains detectable, up to 45 m away along some transects. Hence, we infer a network of subparallel basal crevasses allowing injection of pressurized subglacial brine into the ice. Subglacial brine is routed towards Blood Falls by hydraulic potential gradients associated with deeply incised supraglacial valleys. The brine remains liquid within the subglacial and englacial environments through latent heat of freezing coupled with elevated salt content. Our findings suggest that cold glaciers could support freshwater hydrologic systems through localized warming by latent heat alone. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
BADGELEY, JESSICA A. PETTIT, ERIN C. CARR, CHRISTINA G. TULACZYK, SLAWEK MIKUCKI, JILL A. LYONS, W. BERRY |
spellingShingle |
BADGELEY, JESSICA A. PETTIT, ERIN C. CARR, CHRISTINA G. TULACZYK, SLAWEK MIKUCKI, JILL A. LYONS, W. BERRY An englacial hydrologic system of brine within a cold glacier: Blood Falls, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
author_facet |
BADGELEY, JESSICA A. PETTIT, ERIN C. CARR, CHRISTINA G. TULACZYK, SLAWEK MIKUCKI, JILL A. LYONS, W. BERRY |
author_sort |
BADGELEY, JESSICA A. |
title |
An englacial hydrologic system of brine within a cold glacier: Blood Falls, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_short |
An englacial hydrologic system of brine within a cold glacier: Blood Falls, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_full |
An englacial hydrologic system of brine within a cold glacier: Blood Falls, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
An englacial hydrologic system of brine within a cold glacier: Blood Falls, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
An englacial hydrologic system of brine within a cold glacier: Blood Falls, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_sort |
englacial hydrologic system of brine within a cold glacier: blood falls, mcmurdo dry valleys, antarctica |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2017.16 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143017000168 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet Journal of Glaciology McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Glacier |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet Journal of Glaciology McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Glacier |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology volume 63, issue 239, page 387-400 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2017.16 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
63 |
container_issue |
239 |
container_start_page |
387 |
op_container_end_page |
400 |
_version_ |
1799470592178520064 |