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

• Main Authors: Bell, Robin E., Studinger, Michael, Fahnestock, Mark A., Shuman, Christopher A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Columbia University 2006
• Subjects: Hydrology; Geophysics; FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences; Carroll; East Antarctica; Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains; Lake Vostok; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.7916/d8ff42tn; https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/D8FF42TN

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 ...