An englacial hydrologic system of brine within a cold glacier: Blood Falls, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica
Taylor Glacier hosts an active englacial hydrologic system that feeds Blood Falls, a supraglacial outflow of iron-rich subglacial brine at the terminus, despite mean annual air temperatures of −17°C and limited surface melt. Taylor Glacier is an outlet glacier of the East Antarctic ice sheet that te...
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Cambridge University Press
2017
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2017.16 https://doaj.org/article/bd333f16254645f5a2ec94cda8d7d1f4 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:bd333f16254645f5a2ec94cda8d7d1f4 2023-05-15T13:57:26+02:00 An englacial hydrologic system of brine within a cold glacier: Blood Falls, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica JESSICA A. BADGELEY ERIN C. PETTIT CHRISTINA G. CARR SLAWEK TULACZYK JILL A. MIKUCKI W. BERRY LYONS 2017-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2017.16 https://doaj.org/article/bd333f16254645f5a2ec94cda8d7d1f4 EN eng Cambridge University Press https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143017000168/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0022-1430 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5652 doi:10.1017/jog.2017.16 0022-1430 1727-5652 https://doaj.org/article/bd333f16254645f5a2ec94cda8d7d1f4 Journal of Glaciology, Vol 63, Pp 387-400 (2017) Antarctic glaciology glacier hydrology radio echo sounding Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 article 2017 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2017.16 2023-03-12T01:30:59Z Taylor Glacier hosts an active englacial hydrologic system that feeds Blood Falls, a supraglacial outflow of iron-rich subglacial brine at the terminus, despite mean annual air temperatures of −17°C and limited surface melt. Taylor Glacier is an outlet glacier of the East Antarctic ice sheet that terminates in Lake Bonney, McMurdo Dry Valleys. To image and map the brine feeding Blood Falls, we used radio echo sounding to delineate a subhorizontal zone of englacial brine upstream from Blood Falls and elongated in the ice flow direction. We estimate volumetric brine content in excess of 13% within 2 m of the central axis of this zone, and likely much higher at its center. Brine content decreases, but remains detectable, up to 45 m away along some transects. Hence, we infer a network of subparallel basal crevasses allowing injection of pressurized subglacial brine into the ice. Subglacial brine is routed towards Blood Falls by hydraulic potential gradients associated with deeply incised supraglacial valleys. The brine remains liquid within the subglacial and englacial environments through latent heat of freezing coupled with elevated salt content. Our findings suggest that cold glaciers could support freshwater hydrologic systems through localized warming by latent heat alone. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet Journal of Glaciology McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Glacier Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys East Antarctic Ice Sheet Bonney ENVELOPE(162.417,162.417,-77.717,-77.717) Taylor Glacier ENVELOPE(162.167,162.167,-77.733,-77.733) Lake Bonney ENVELOPE(-25.588,-25.588,-80.361,-80.361) Blood Falls ENVELOPE(162.271,162.271,-77.722,-77.722) Journal of Glaciology 63 239 387 400 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Antarctic glaciology glacier hydrology radio echo sounding Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
spellingShingle |
Antarctic glaciology glacier hydrology radio echo sounding Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 JESSICA A. BADGELEY ERIN C. PETTIT CHRISTINA G. CARR SLAWEK TULACZYK JILL A. MIKUCKI W. BERRY LYONS An englacial hydrologic system of brine within a cold glacier: Blood Falls, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Antarctic glaciology glacier hydrology radio echo sounding Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
description |
Taylor Glacier hosts an active englacial hydrologic system that feeds Blood Falls, a supraglacial outflow of iron-rich subglacial brine at the terminus, despite mean annual air temperatures of −17°C and limited surface melt. Taylor Glacier is an outlet glacier of the East Antarctic ice sheet that terminates in Lake Bonney, McMurdo Dry Valleys. To image and map the brine feeding Blood Falls, we used radio echo sounding to delineate a subhorizontal zone of englacial brine upstream from Blood Falls and elongated in the ice flow direction. We estimate volumetric brine content in excess of 13% within 2 m of the central axis of this zone, and likely much higher at its center. Brine content decreases, but remains detectable, up to 45 m away along some transects. Hence, we infer a network of subparallel basal crevasses allowing injection of pressurized subglacial brine into the ice. Subglacial brine is routed towards Blood Falls by hydraulic potential gradients associated with deeply incised supraglacial valleys. The brine remains liquid within the subglacial and englacial environments through latent heat of freezing coupled with elevated salt content. Our findings suggest that cold glaciers could support freshwater hydrologic systems through localized warming by latent heat alone. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
JESSICA A. BADGELEY ERIN C. PETTIT CHRISTINA G. CARR SLAWEK TULACZYK JILL A. MIKUCKI W. BERRY LYONS |
author_facet |
JESSICA A. BADGELEY ERIN C. PETTIT CHRISTINA G. CARR SLAWEK TULACZYK JILL A. MIKUCKI W. BERRY LYONS |
author_sort |
JESSICA A. BADGELEY |
title |
An englacial hydrologic system of brine within a cold glacier: Blood Falls, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_short |
An englacial hydrologic system of brine within a cold glacier: Blood Falls, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_full |
An englacial hydrologic system of brine within a cold glacier: Blood Falls, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
An englacial hydrologic system of brine within a cold glacier: Blood Falls, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
An englacial hydrologic system of brine within a cold glacier: Blood Falls, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_sort |
englacial hydrologic system of brine within a cold glacier: blood falls, mcmurdo dry valleys, antarctica |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2017.16 https://doaj.org/article/bd333f16254645f5a2ec94cda8d7d1f4 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(162.417,162.417,-77.717,-77.717) ENVELOPE(162.167,162.167,-77.733,-77.733) ENVELOPE(-25.588,-25.588,-80.361,-80.361) ENVELOPE(162.271,162.271,-77.722,-77.722) |
geographic |
Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys East Antarctic Ice Sheet Bonney Taylor Glacier Lake Bonney Blood Falls |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys East Antarctic Ice Sheet Bonney Taylor Glacier Lake Bonney Blood Falls |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet Journal of Glaciology McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Glacier |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet Journal of Glaciology McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Glacier |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology, Vol 63, Pp 387-400 (2017) |
op_relation |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143017000168/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0022-1430 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5652 doi:10.1017/jog.2017.16 0022-1430 1727-5652 https://doaj.org/article/bd333f16254645f5a2ec94cda8d7d1f4 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2017.16 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
63 |
container_issue |
239 |
container_start_page |
387 |
op_container_end_page |
400 |
_version_ |
1766265109203648512 |