Interpreting englacial layer deformation in the presence of complex ice flow history with synthetic radargrams
Fast ice flow on the Antarctic continent constitutes much of the mass loss from the ice sheet. However, geophysical methods struggle to constrain ice flow history at depth, or separate the signatures of topography, ice dynamics and basal conditions on layer structure. We develop and demonstrate a me...
Published in: | Annals of Glaciology |
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Cambridge University Press
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2019.41 https://doaj.org/article/8fff51a672d44bdf9e715bc7e320a178 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:8fff51a672d44bdf9e715bc7e320a178 2023-05-15T13:29:36+02:00 Interpreting englacial layer deformation in the presence of complex ice flow history with synthetic radargrams Cooper W. Elsworth Dustin M. Schroeder Matthew R. Siegfried 2020-04-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2019.41 https://doaj.org/article/8fff51a672d44bdf9e715bc7e320a178 EN eng Cambridge University Press https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0260305519000417/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0260-3055 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5644 doi:10.1017/aog.2019.41 0260-3055 1727-5644 https://doaj.org/article/8fff51a672d44bdf9e715bc7e320a178 Annals of Glaciology, Vol 61, Pp 206-213 (2020) Ice dynamics ice streams radio-echo sounding Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2019.41 2023-03-12T01:31:55Z Fast ice flow on the Antarctic continent constitutes much of the mass loss from the ice sheet. However, geophysical methods struggle to constrain ice flow history at depth, or separate the signatures of topography, ice dynamics and basal conditions on layer structure. We develop and demonstrate a methodology to compare layer signatures in multiple airborne radar transects in order to characterize ice flow at depth, or improve coverage of existing radar surveys. We apply this technique to generate synthetic, along-flow radargrams and compare different deformation regimes to observed radargram structure. Specifically, we investigate flow around the central sticky spot of Whillans Ice Stream, West Antarctica. Our study suggests that present-day velocity flowlines are insufficient to characterize flow at depth as expressed in layer geometry, and streaklines provide a better characterization of flow around a basal sticky spot. For Whillans Ice Stream, this suggests that ice flow wraps around the central sticky spot, supported by idealized flow simulations. While tracking isochrone translation and rotation across survey lines is complex, we demonstrate that our approach to combine radargram interpretation and modeling can reveal critical details of past ice flow. Article in Journal/Newspaper Annals of Glaciology Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet West Antarctica Whillans Ice Stream Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic The Antarctic West Antarctica Whillans ENVELOPE(-64.250,-64.250,-84.450,-84.450) Whillans Ice Stream ENVELOPE(-145.000,-145.000,-83.667,-83.667) Annals of Glaciology 61 81 206 213 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Ice dynamics ice streams radio-echo sounding Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
spellingShingle |
Ice dynamics ice streams radio-echo sounding Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 Cooper W. Elsworth Dustin M. Schroeder Matthew R. Siegfried Interpreting englacial layer deformation in the presence of complex ice flow history with synthetic radargrams |
topic_facet |
Ice dynamics ice streams radio-echo sounding Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
description |
Fast ice flow on the Antarctic continent constitutes much of the mass loss from the ice sheet. However, geophysical methods struggle to constrain ice flow history at depth, or separate the signatures of topography, ice dynamics and basal conditions on layer structure. We develop and demonstrate a methodology to compare layer signatures in multiple airborne radar transects in order to characterize ice flow at depth, or improve coverage of existing radar surveys. We apply this technique to generate synthetic, along-flow radargrams and compare different deformation regimes to observed radargram structure. Specifically, we investigate flow around the central sticky spot of Whillans Ice Stream, West Antarctica. Our study suggests that present-day velocity flowlines are insufficient to characterize flow at depth as expressed in layer geometry, and streaklines provide a better characterization of flow around a basal sticky spot. For Whillans Ice Stream, this suggests that ice flow wraps around the central sticky spot, supported by idealized flow simulations. While tracking isochrone translation and rotation across survey lines is complex, we demonstrate that our approach to combine radargram interpretation and modeling can reveal critical details of past ice flow. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cooper W. Elsworth Dustin M. Schroeder Matthew R. Siegfried |
author_facet |
Cooper W. Elsworth Dustin M. Schroeder Matthew R. Siegfried |
author_sort |
Cooper W. Elsworth |
title |
Interpreting englacial layer deformation in the presence of complex ice flow history with synthetic radargrams |
title_short |
Interpreting englacial layer deformation in the presence of complex ice flow history with synthetic radargrams |
title_full |
Interpreting englacial layer deformation in the presence of complex ice flow history with synthetic radargrams |
title_fullStr |
Interpreting englacial layer deformation in the presence of complex ice flow history with synthetic radargrams |
title_full_unstemmed |
Interpreting englacial layer deformation in the presence of complex ice flow history with synthetic radargrams |
title_sort |
interpreting englacial layer deformation in the presence of complex ice flow history with synthetic radargrams |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2019.41 https://doaj.org/article/8fff51a672d44bdf9e715bc7e320a178 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-64.250,-64.250,-84.450,-84.450) ENVELOPE(-145.000,-145.000,-83.667,-83.667) |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic West Antarctica Whillans Whillans Ice Stream |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic West Antarctica Whillans Whillans Ice Stream |
genre |
Annals of Glaciology Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet West Antarctica Whillans Ice Stream |
genre_facet |
Annals of Glaciology Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet West Antarctica Whillans Ice Stream |
op_source |
Annals of Glaciology, Vol 61, Pp 206-213 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0260305519000417/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0260-3055 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5644 doi:10.1017/aog.2019.41 0260-3055 1727-5644 https://doaj.org/article/8fff51a672d44bdf9e715bc7e320a178 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2019.41 |
container_title |
Annals of Glaciology |
container_volume |
61 |
container_issue |
81 |
container_start_page |
206 |
op_container_end_page |
213 |
_version_ |
1766001445527617536 |