Sedimentary Signatures of Persistent Subglacial Meltwater Drainage From Thwaites Glacier, Antarctica ...

• Main Authors: Lepp, Allison P., Simkins, Lauren M., Anderson, John B., Clark, Rachel W., Wellner, Julia S., Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter, Smith, James A., Lehrmann, Asmara A., Totten, Rebecca, Larter, Robert D., Hogan, Kelly A., Nitsche, Frank O., Graham, Alastair G.C., Wacker, Lukas
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: ETH Zurich 2022
• Subjects: glacial sediments; meltwater plumes; glacial hydrology; holocene; computed tomography; west Antarctica; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice Shelves; Thwaites Glacier; West Antarctica
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000554397; http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/554397

Subglacial meltwater drainage can enhance localized melting along grounding zones and beneath the ice shelves of marine-terminating glaciers. Efforts to constrain the evolution of subglacial hydrology and the resulting influence on ice stability in space and on decadal to millennial timescales are lacking. Here, we apply sedimentological, geochemical, and statistical methods to analyze sediment cores recovered offshore Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica to reconstruct meltwater drainage activity through the pre-satellite era. We find evidence for a long-lived subglacial hydrologic system beneath Thwaites Glacier and indications that meltwater plumes are the primary mechanism of sedimentation seaward of the glacier today. Detailed core stratigraphy revealed through computed tomography scanning captures variability in drainage styles and suggests greater magnitudes of sediment-laden meltwater have been delivered to the ocean in recent centuries compared to the past several thousand years. Fundamental ... : Frontiers in Earth Science, 10 ...