A glimpse beneath Antarctic sea ice: platelet-layer volume from multi-frequency electromagnetic induction sounding
In Antarctica, ice crystals emerge from ice shelf cavities and accumulate in unconsolidated layers beneath nearby sea ice. Such sub-ice platelet layers form a unique habitat and serve as an indicator for the state of an ice shelf. However, the lack of a suitable methodology impedes an efficient quan...
| Published in: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | unknown |
| Published: |
Wiley
2016
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/39098/ https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/39098/1/HunkelerEtAL_GRL_2015.pdf https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.46609 https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.46609.d001 |
| Summary: | In Antarctica, ice crystals emerge from ice shelf cavities and accumulate in unconsolidated layers beneath nearby sea ice. Such sub-ice platelet layers form a unique habitat and serve as an indicator for the state of an ice shelf. However, the lack of a suitable methodology impedes an efficient quantification of this phenomenon on scales beyond point measurements. In this study, we inverted multifrequency electromagnetic (EM) induction soundings, obtained on fast ice with an underlying platelet layer along profiles of >100 km length in the eastern Weddell Sea. EM-derived platelet layer thickness and conductivity are consistent with other field observations. Our results suggest that platelet layer volume is higher than previously thought in this region and that platelet layer ice volume fraction is proportional to its thickness. We conclude that multifrequency EM is a suitable tool to determine platelet layer volume, with the potential to obtain crucial knowledge of associated processes in otherwise inaccessible ice shelf cavities. |
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