West Antarctic sites for subglacial drilling to test for past ice-sheet collapse
Mass loss from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is increasing, and there is concern that an incipient large-scale deglaciation of the marine basins may already be underway. Measurements of cosmogenic nuclides in subglacial bedrock surfaces have the potential to establish whether and when the mari...
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ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:tc68642 2023-05-15T13:55:28+02:00 West Antarctic sites for subglacial drilling to test for past ice-sheet collapse Spector, Perry Stone, John Pollard, David Hillebrand, Trevor Lewis, Cameron Gombiner, Joel 2018-09-27 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2741-2018 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/12/2741/2018/ eng eng doi:10.5194/tc-12-2741-2018 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/12/2741/2018/ eISSN: 1994-0424 Text 2018 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2741-2018 2020-07-20T16:23:09Z Mass loss from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is increasing, and there is concern that an incipient large-scale deglaciation of the marine basins may already be underway. Measurements of cosmogenic nuclides in subglacial bedrock surfaces have the potential to establish whether and when the marine-based portions of the WAIS deglaciated in the past. However, because most of the bedrock revealed by ice-sheet collapse would remain below sea level, shielded from the cosmic-ray flux, drill sites for subglacial sampling must be located in areas where thinning of the residual ice sheet would expose presently subglacial bedrock surfaces. In this paper we discuss the criteria and considerations for choosing drill sites where subglacial samples will provide maximum information about WAIS extent during past interglacial periods. We evaluate candidate sites in West Antarctica and find that sites located adjacent to the large marine basins of West Antarctica will be most diagnostic of past ice-sheet collapse. There are important considerations for drill site selection on the kilometer scale that can only be assessed by field reconnaissance. As a case study of these considerations, we describe reconnaissance at sites in West Antarctica, focusing on the Pirrit Hills, where in the summer of 2016–2017 an 8 m bedrock core was retrieved from below 150 m of ice. Text Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet West Antarctica Copernicus Publications: E-Journals Antarctic Pirrit Hills ENVELOPE(-85.350,-85.350,-81.283,-81.283) West Antarctic Ice Sheet West Antarctica The Cryosphere 12 8 2741 2757 |
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Open Polar |
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Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
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ftcopernicus |
language |
English |
description |
Mass loss from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is increasing, and there is concern that an incipient large-scale deglaciation of the marine basins may already be underway. Measurements of cosmogenic nuclides in subglacial bedrock surfaces have the potential to establish whether and when the marine-based portions of the WAIS deglaciated in the past. However, because most of the bedrock revealed by ice-sheet collapse would remain below sea level, shielded from the cosmic-ray flux, drill sites for subglacial sampling must be located in areas where thinning of the residual ice sheet would expose presently subglacial bedrock surfaces. In this paper we discuss the criteria and considerations for choosing drill sites where subglacial samples will provide maximum information about WAIS extent during past interglacial periods. We evaluate candidate sites in West Antarctica and find that sites located adjacent to the large marine basins of West Antarctica will be most diagnostic of past ice-sheet collapse. There are important considerations for drill site selection on the kilometer scale that can only be assessed by field reconnaissance. As a case study of these considerations, we describe reconnaissance at sites in West Antarctica, focusing on the Pirrit Hills, where in the summer of 2016–2017 an 8 m bedrock core was retrieved from below 150 m of ice. |
format |
Text |
author |
Spector, Perry Stone, John Pollard, David Hillebrand, Trevor Lewis, Cameron Gombiner, Joel |
spellingShingle |
Spector, Perry Stone, John Pollard, David Hillebrand, Trevor Lewis, Cameron Gombiner, Joel West Antarctic sites for subglacial drilling to test for past ice-sheet collapse |
author_facet |
Spector, Perry Stone, John Pollard, David Hillebrand, Trevor Lewis, Cameron Gombiner, Joel |
author_sort |
Spector, Perry |
title |
West Antarctic sites for subglacial drilling to test for past ice-sheet collapse |
title_short |
West Antarctic sites for subglacial drilling to test for past ice-sheet collapse |
title_full |
West Antarctic sites for subglacial drilling to test for past ice-sheet collapse |
title_fullStr |
West Antarctic sites for subglacial drilling to test for past ice-sheet collapse |
title_full_unstemmed |
West Antarctic sites for subglacial drilling to test for past ice-sheet collapse |
title_sort |
west antarctic sites for subglacial drilling to test for past ice-sheet collapse |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2741-2018 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/12/2741/2018/ |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-85.350,-85.350,-81.283,-81.283) |
geographic |
Antarctic Pirrit Hills West Antarctic Ice Sheet West Antarctica |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Pirrit Hills West Antarctic Ice Sheet West Antarctica |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet West Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet West Antarctica |
op_source |
eISSN: 1994-0424 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/tc-12-2741-2018 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/12/2741/2018/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2741-2018 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
8 |
container_start_page |
2741 |
op_container_end_page |
2757 |
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1766262126520827904 |