Tectonically controlled subglacial lakes on the flanks of the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains, East Antarctica ...

The morphology of surface lakes strongly influences their ecology and limnology (Wetzel, 2001). This morphology is a result of both the geologic processes that produce topographic basins and the regional climatic and local hydrologic processes that control water depth and sediment infilling (Carroll...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bell, Robin E., Studinger, Michael, Fahnestock, Mark A., Shuman, Christopher
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: AGU 2006
Subjects:
Online Access:https://dx.doi.org/10.13016/m2pw4h-zxfm
https://mdsoar.org/handle/11603/24280
Description
Summary:The morphology of surface lakes strongly influences their ecology and limnology (Wetzel, 2001). This morphology is a result of both the geologic processes that produce topographic basins and the regional climatic and local hydrologic processes that control water depth and sediment infilling (Carroll and Bohacs, 1999). Although basin forming processes range from glacial scour to meteorite impacts (Cohen, 2003), the deepest, oldest surface lakes are tectonically controlled (Meybeck, 1995) and contain diverse exotic ecosystems (Rossiterm and Kawanabe, 2000). Subglacial lakes are also thought to be ancient systems that may contain exotic biota (Bulat et al., 2004; Karl et al., 1999; Priscu et al., 1999). Here we present evidence for the scale and configuration of 2 large subglacial lakes in East Antarctica that together with Lake Vostok define a province of major lakes on the flanks of the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains. Spatially-defined in the new Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) imagery ...