Geothermal heat flow in Antarctica: current and future directions

• Main Authors: Burton-Johnson, Alex, Dziadek, Ricarda, Martin, Carlos
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: Antarctic; East Antarctic Ice Sheet; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2020-59; https://tc.copernicus.org/preprints/tc-2020-59/

Antarctic geothermal heat flow (GHF) affects the temperature of the ice sheet, determining its ability to slide and internally deform, as well as the behaviour of the continental crust. However, GHF remains poorly constrained, with few and sparse local, borehole-derived estimates, and large discrepancies in the magnitude and distribution of existing continent-scale estimates from geophysical models. We review the methods to extract GHF, compile borehole and probe-derived estimates from measured temperature profiles, and recommend the following future directions: 1) Obtain more borehole-derived estimates from the subglacial bedrock and englacial temperature profiles. 2) Estimate GHF beneath the interior of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (the region most sensitive to GHF variation) via long-wavelength microwave emissivity. 3) Estimate GHF from inverse glaciological modelling, constrained by evidence for basal melting. 4) Revise geophysically-derived GHF estimates using a combination of Curie depth, seismic, and thermal isostasy models. 5) Integrate in these geophysical approaches a more accurate model of the structure and distribution of heat production elements within the crust, and considering heterogeneities in the underlying mantle. And 6) continue international interdisciplinary communication and data access.