Evidence of Cascading Subglacial Water Flow at Jutulstraumen Glacier (Antarctica) Derived From Sentinel-1 and ICESat-2 Measurements
Migration of subglacial water underneath thick Antarctic ice is difficult to observe directly but is known to influence ice flow dynamics. Here, we analyze a 6-year time series of displacement maps from differential Sentinel-1 SAR interferometry (DInSAR) in the upstream region of Jutulstraumen Glaci...
| Published in: | Geophysical Research Letters |
|---|---|
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | unknown |
| Published: |
Wiley
2021
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/54791/ https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/54791/1/2021_Neckel_GL094472.pdf https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2021GL094472 https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.d0356403-3a8d-4060-b578-0528b076f59a |
| Summary: | Migration of subglacial water underneath thick Antarctic ice is difficult to observe directly but is known to influence ice flow dynamics. Here, we analyze a 6-year time series of displacement maps from differential Sentinel-1 SAR interferometry (DInSAR) in the upstream region of Jutulstraumen Glacier. Our results reveal short-term (between 12 days and 1 year) interconnected subsidence- and uplift events of the ice surface, which we interpret as a pressure response to the drainage and filling of subglacial lakes. This indicates an episodic cascade-like water transport with longer quiescent phases in a dynamically stable glacial setting. Abrupt events appear in the DInSAR time series and are confirmed by ICESat-2 altimetry. The events can be traced for a 1-year period along a urn:x-wiley:00948276:media:grl63164:grl63164-math-0001175 km flow path. We are able to observe the migration of subglacial water with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution, providing a new observational baseline to further develop subglacial hydrological models. |
|---|