Active subglacial lakes and channelized water flow beneath the Kamb Ice Stream
We identify two previously unknown subglacial lakes beneath the stagnated trunk of the Kamb Ice Stream (KIS). Rapid fill-drain hydrologic events over several months are inferred from surface height changes measured by CryoSat-2 altimetry and indicate that the lakes are probably connected by a subgla...
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ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:tc50996 2023-05-15T16:41:53+02:00 Active subglacial lakes and channelized water flow beneath the Kamb Ice Stream Kim, Byeong-Hoon Lee, Choon-Ki Seo, Ki-Weon Lee, Won Sang Scambos, Ted 2018-09-27 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2971-2016 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/10/2971/2016/ eng eng doi:10.5194/tc-10-2971-2016 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/10/2971/2016/ eISSN: 1994-0424 Text 2018 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2971-2016 2020-07-20T16:23:54Z We identify two previously unknown subglacial lakes beneath the stagnated trunk of the Kamb Ice Stream (KIS). Rapid fill-drain hydrologic events over several months are inferred from surface height changes measured by CryoSat-2 altimetry and indicate that the lakes are probably connected by a subglacial drainage network, whose structure is inferred from the regional hydraulic potential and probably links the lakes. The sequential fill-drain behavior of the subglacial lakes and concurrent rapid thinning in a channel-like topographic feature near the grounding line implies that the subglacial water repeatedly flows from the region above the trunk to the KIS grounding line and out beneath the Ross Ice Shelf. Ice shelf elevation near the hypothesized outlet is observed to decrease slowly during the study period. Our finding supports a previously published conceptual model of the KIS shutdown stemming from a transition from distributed flow to well-drained channelized flow of subglacial water. However, a water-piracy hypothesis in which the KIS subglacial water system is being starved by drainage in adjacent ice streams is also supported by the fact that the degree of KIS trunk subglacial lake activity is relatively weaker than those of the upstream lakes. Text Ice Shelf Kamb Ice Stream Ross Ice Shelf Copernicus Publications: E-Journals Kamb Ice Stream ENVELOPE(-145.000,-145.000,-82.250,-82.250) Ross Ice Shelf The Cryosphere 10 6 2971 2980 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
op_collection_id |
ftcopernicus |
language |
English |
description |
We identify two previously unknown subglacial lakes beneath the stagnated trunk of the Kamb Ice Stream (KIS). Rapid fill-drain hydrologic events over several months are inferred from surface height changes measured by CryoSat-2 altimetry and indicate that the lakes are probably connected by a subglacial drainage network, whose structure is inferred from the regional hydraulic potential and probably links the lakes. The sequential fill-drain behavior of the subglacial lakes and concurrent rapid thinning in a channel-like topographic feature near the grounding line implies that the subglacial water repeatedly flows from the region above the trunk to the KIS grounding line and out beneath the Ross Ice Shelf. Ice shelf elevation near the hypothesized outlet is observed to decrease slowly during the study period. Our finding supports a previously published conceptual model of the KIS shutdown stemming from a transition from distributed flow to well-drained channelized flow of subglacial water. However, a water-piracy hypothesis in which the KIS subglacial water system is being starved by drainage in adjacent ice streams is also supported by the fact that the degree of KIS trunk subglacial lake activity is relatively weaker than those of the upstream lakes. |
format |
Text |
author |
Kim, Byeong-Hoon Lee, Choon-Ki Seo, Ki-Weon Lee, Won Sang Scambos, Ted |
spellingShingle |
Kim, Byeong-Hoon Lee, Choon-Ki Seo, Ki-Weon Lee, Won Sang Scambos, Ted Active subglacial lakes and channelized water flow beneath the Kamb Ice Stream |
author_facet |
Kim, Byeong-Hoon Lee, Choon-Ki Seo, Ki-Weon Lee, Won Sang Scambos, Ted |
author_sort |
Kim, Byeong-Hoon |
title |
Active subglacial lakes and channelized water flow beneath the Kamb Ice Stream |
title_short |
Active subglacial lakes and channelized water flow beneath the Kamb Ice Stream |
title_full |
Active subglacial lakes and channelized water flow beneath the Kamb Ice Stream |
title_fullStr |
Active subglacial lakes and channelized water flow beneath the Kamb Ice Stream |
title_full_unstemmed |
Active subglacial lakes and channelized water flow beneath the Kamb Ice Stream |
title_sort |
active subglacial lakes and channelized water flow beneath the kamb ice stream |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2971-2016 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/10/2971/2016/ |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-145.000,-145.000,-82.250,-82.250) |
geographic |
Kamb Ice Stream Ross Ice Shelf |
geographic_facet |
Kamb Ice Stream Ross Ice Shelf |
genre |
Ice Shelf Kamb Ice Stream Ross Ice Shelf |
genre_facet |
Ice Shelf Kamb Ice Stream Ross Ice Shelf |
op_source |
eISSN: 1994-0424 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/tc-10-2971-2016 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/10/2971/2016/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2971-2016 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
2971 |
op_container_end_page |
2980 |
_version_ |
1766032346347208704 |