Ice stream or not? Radio-echo sounding of Carlson Inlet, West Antarctica
The Antarctic Ice Sheet loses mass to the surrounding ocean mainly by drainage through a network of ice streams: fast-flowing glaciers bounded on either side by ice flowing one or two orders of magnitude more slowly. Ice streams flow despite low driving stress because of low basal resistance but are...
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2011
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:33428e6dffc842d8993a3a1656be2a7e 2023-05-15T13:52:04+02:00 Ice stream or not? Radio-echo sounding of Carlson Inlet, West Antarctica E. C. King 2011-10-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-5-907-2011 https://doaj.org/article/33428e6dffc842d8993a3a1656be2a7e EN eng Copernicus Publications http://www.the-cryosphere.net/5/907/2011/tc-5-907-2011.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-5-907-2011 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/33428e6dffc842d8993a3a1656be2a7e The Cryosphere, Vol 5, Iss 4, Pp 907-916 (2011) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2011 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-5-907-2011 2022-12-31T00:07:04Z The Antarctic Ice Sheet loses mass to the surrounding ocean mainly by drainage through a network of ice streams: fast-flowing glaciers bounded on either side by ice flowing one or two orders of magnitude more slowly. Ice streams flow despite low driving stress because of low basal resistance but are known to cease flowing if the basal conditions change, which can take place when subglacial sediment becomes dewatered by freezing or by a change in hydraulic pathways. Carlson Inlet, Antarctica has been interpreted as a stagnated ice stream, based on surface and basal morphology and shallow radar reflection profiling. To resolve the question of whether the flow history of Carlson Inlet has changed in the past, I conducted a ground-based radar survey of Carlson Inlet, the adjacent part of Rutford Ice Stream, and Talutis Inlet, West Antarctica. This survey provides details of the internal ice stratigraphy and allows the flow history to be interpreted. Tight folding of isochrones in Rutford Ice Stream and Talutis Inlet is interpreted to be the result of lateral compression during convergent flow from a wide catchment into a narrow, fast-flowing trunk. In contrast, the central part of Carlson Inlet has gently-folded isochrones that drape over the bed topography, suggestive of local accumulation and slow flow. A 1-D thermo-mechanical model was used to estimate the age of the ice. I conclude that the ice in the centre of Carlson Inlet has been near-stagnant for between 3500 and 6800 yr and that fast flow has not occurred there during that time period. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet Rutford Ice Stream The Cryosphere West Antarctica Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic The Antarctic West Antarctica Rutford ENVELOPE(-85.300,-85.300,-78.600,-78.600) Rutford Ice Stream ENVELOPE(-80.000,-80.000,-79.167,-79.167) Talutis Inlet ENVELOPE(-81.500,-81.500,-77.250,-77.250) Carlson Inlet ENVELOPE(-80.000,-80.000,-77.833,-77.833) The Cryosphere 5 4 907 916 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 E. C. King Ice stream or not? Radio-echo sounding of Carlson Inlet, West Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
The Antarctic Ice Sheet loses mass to the surrounding ocean mainly by drainage through a network of ice streams: fast-flowing glaciers bounded on either side by ice flowing one or two orders of magnitude more slowly. Ice streams flow despite low driving stress because of low basal resistance but are known to cease flowing if the basal conditions change, which can take place when subglacial sediment becomes dewatered by freezing or by a change in hydraulic pathways. Carlson Inlet, Antarctica has been interpreted as a stagnated ice stream, based on surface and basal morphology and shallow radar reflection profiling. To resolve the question of whether the flow history of Carlson Inlet has changed in the past, I conducted a ground-based radar survey of Carlson Inlet, the adjacent part of Rutford Ice Stream, and Talutis Inlet, West Antarctica. This survey provides details of the internal ice stratigraphy and allows the flow history to be interpreted. Tight folding of isochrones in Rutford Ice Stream and Talutis Inlet is interpreted to be the result of lateral compression during convergent flow from a wide catchment into a narrow, fast-flowing trunk. In contrast, the central part of Carlson Inlet has gently-folded isochrones that drape over the bed topography, suggestive of local accumulation and slow flow. A 1-D thermo-mechanical model was used to estimate the age of the ice. I conclude that the ice in the centre of Carlson Inlet has been near-stagnant for between 3500 and 6800 yr and that fast flow has not occurred there during that time period. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
E. C. King |
author_facet |
E. C. King |
author_sort |
E. C. King |
title |
Ice stream or not? Radio-echo sounding of Carlson Inlet, West Antarctica |
title_short |
Ice stream or not? Radio-echo sounding of Carlson Inlet, West Antarctica |
title_full |
Ice stream or not? Radio-echo sounding of Carlson Inlet, West Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Ice stream or not? Radio-echo sounding of Carlson Inlet, West Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ice stream or not? Radio-echo sounding of Carlson Inlet, West Antarctica |
title_sort |
ice stream or not? radio-echo sounding of carlson inlet, west antarctica |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-5-907-2011 https://doaj.org/article/33428e6dffc842d8993a3a1656be2a7e |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-85.300,-85.300,-78.600,-78.600) ENVELOPE(-80.000,-80.000,-79.167,-79.167) ENVELOPE(-81.500,-81.500,-77.250,-77.250) ENVELOPE(-80.000,-80.000,-77.833,-77.833) |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic West Antarctica Rutford Rutford Ice Stream Talutis Inlet Carlson Inlet |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic West Antarctica Rutford Rutford Ice Stream Talutis Inlet Carlson Inlet |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet Rutford Ice Stream The Cryosphere West Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet Rutford Ice Stream The Cryosphere West Antarctica |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 5, Iss 4, Pp 907-916 (2011) |
op_relation |
http://www.the-cryosphere.net/5/907/2011/tc-5-907-2011.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-5-907-2011 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/33428e6dffc842d8993a3a1656be2a7e |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-5-907-2011 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
5 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
907 |
op_container_end_page |
916 |
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1766256298777640960 |