Core scans and lithologic analysis of Subglacial Lake Whillans sediment cores ...
The hydrologic system beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet is thought to influence both the dynamics and distribution of fast flowing ice streams, which discharge most of the ice lost by the ice sheet. Despite considerable interest in understanding this subglacial network and its affect on ice flow, in s...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
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PANGAEA
2016
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.859990 https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.859990 |
| Summary: | The hydrologic system beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet is thought to influence both the dynamics and distribution of fast flowing ice streams, which discharge most of the ice lost by the ice sheet. Despite considerable interest in understanding this subglacial network and its affect on ice flow, in situ observations from the ice sheet bed are exceedingly rare. Here we describe the first sediment cores recovered from an active subglacial lake. The lake, known as Subglacial Lake Whillans, is part of a broader, dynamic hydrologic network beneath the Whillans Ice Stream in West Antarctica. Even though "floods" pass through the lake, the lake floor shows no evidence of erosion or deposition by flowing water. By inference, these floods must have insufficient energy to erode or transport significant volumes of sediment coarser than silt. Consequently, water flow beneath the region is probably incapable of incising continuous channels into the bed and instead follows preexisting subglacial topography and surface ... : Supplement to: Hodson, Timothy O; Powell, Ross; Brachfield, Stefanie; Tulaczyk, Slawek; Scherer, Reed P; WISSARD Science Team (2016): Physical processes in Subglacial Lake Whillans, West Antarctica: inferences from sediment cores. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 444, 56-63 ... |
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