The glacial geomorphology of western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica

• Main Authors: Newall, J. C. H., Dymova, T., Serra, E., Blomdin, R., Fredin, O., Glasser, N. F., Suganuma, Y., Harbor, J. M., Stroeven, A. P.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Taylor & Francis 2020
• Subjects: Medicine; Neuroscience; 59999 Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified; FOS Earth and related environmental sciences; Ecology; FOS Biological sciences; 20199 Astronomical and Space Sciences not elsewhere classified; FOS Physical sciences; Sociology; FOS Sociology; 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified; 80699 Information Systems not elsewhere classified; FOS Computer and information sciences; Computational Biology; Dronning Maud Land; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.12854333; https://tandf.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/The_glacial_geomorphology_of_western_Dronning_Maud_Land_Antarctica/12854333

Reconstructing the response of present-day ice sheets to past global climate change is important for constraining and refining the numerical models which forecast future contributions of these ice sheets to sea-level change. Mapping landforms is an essential step in reconstructing glacial histories. Here we present a new map of glacial landforms and deposits on nunataks in western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Nunataks are mountains or ridges that currently protrude through the ice sheet and may provide evidence that they have been wholly or partly covered by ice, thus indicating a formerly more extensive (thicker) ice sheet. The map was produced through a combination of mapping from Worldview satellite imagery and ground validation. The sub-metre spatial resolution of the satellite imagery enabled mapping with unprecedented detail. Ten landform categories have been mapped, and the landform distributions provide evidence constraining spatial patterns of a previously thicker ice sheet.