Past water flow beneath Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers, West Antarctica
Outburst floods from subglacial lakes beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet modulate ice-flow velocities over periods of months to years. Although subglacial lake drainage events have been observed from satellite-altimetric data, little is known about their role in the long-term evolution of ice-sheet bas...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:c5ff8d7781374c8497b631773892440f 2023-05-15T13:51:14+02:00 Past water flow beneath Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers, West Antarctica J. D. Kirkham K. A. Hogan R. D. Larter N. S. Arnold F. O. Nitsche N. R. Golledge J. A. Dowdeswell 2019-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1959-2019 https://doaj.org/article/c5ff8d7781374c8497b631773892440f EN eng Copernicus Publications https://www.the-cryosphere.net/13/1959/2019/tc-13-1959-2019.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-13-1959-2019 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/c5ff8d7781374c8497b631773892440f The Cryosphere, Vol 13, Pp 1959-1981 (2019) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1959-2019 2022-12-31T00:19:13Z Outburst floods from subglacial lakes beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet modulate ice-flow velocities over periods of months to years. Although subglacial lake drainage events have been observed from satellite-altimetric data, little is known about their role in the long-term evolution of ice-sheet basal hydrology. Here, we systematically map and model past water flow through an extensive area containing over 1000 subglacial channels and 19 former lake basins exposed on over 19 000 km 2 of seafloor by the retreat of Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers, West Antarctica. At 507 m wide and 43 m deep on average, the channels offshore of present-day Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers are approximately twice as deep, 3 times as wide, and cover an area over 400 times larger than the terrestrial meltwater channels comprising the Labyrinth in the Antarctic Dry Valleys. The channels incised into bedrock offshore of contemporary Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers would have been capable of accommodating discharges of up to 8.8×10 6 m 3 s −1 . We suggest that the channels were formed by episodic discharges from subglacial lakes trapped during ice-sheet advance and retreat over multiple glacial periods. Our results document the widespread influence of episodic subglacial drainage events during past glacial periods, in particular beneath large ice streams similar to those that continue to dominate contemporary ice-sheet discharge. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet Pine Island The Cryosphere West Antarctica Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic The Antarctic West Antarctica Labyrinth ENVELOPE(160.833,160.833,-77.550,-77.550) The Cryosphere 13 7 1959 1981 |
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 J. D. Kirkham K. A. Hogan R. D. Larter N. S. Arnold F. O. Nitsche N. R. Golledge J. A. Dowdeswell Past water flow beneath Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers, West Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Outburst floods from subglacial lakes beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet modulate ice-flow velocities over periods of months to years. Although subglacial lake drainage events have been observed from satellite-altimetric data, little is known about their role in the long-term evolution of ice-sheet basal hydrology. Here, we systematically map and model past water flow through an extensive area containing over 1000 subglacial channels and 19 former lake basins exposed on over 19 000 km 2 of seafloor by the retreat of Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers, West Antarctica. At 507 m wide and 43 m deep on average, the channels offshore of present-day Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers are approximately twice as deep, 3 times as wide, and cover an area over 400 times larger than the terrestrial meltwater channels comprising the Labyrinth in the Antarctic Dry Valleys. The channels incised into bedrock offshore of contemporary Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers would have been capable of accommodating discharges of up to 8.8×10 6 m 3 s −1 . We suggest that the channels were formed by episodic discharges from subglacial lakes trapped during ice-sheet advance and retreat over multiple glacial periods. Our results document the widespread influence of episodic subglacial drainage events during past glacial periods, in particular beneath large ice streams similar to those that continue to dominate contemporary ice-sheet discharge. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
J. D. Kirkham K. A. Hogan R. D. Larter N. S. Arnold F. O. Nitsche N. R. Golledge J. A. Dowdeswell |
author_facet |
J. D. Kirkham K. A. Hogan R. D. Larter N. S. Arnold F. O. Nitsche N. R. Golledge J. A. Dowdeswell |
author_sort |
J. D. Kirkham |
title |
Past water flow beneath Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers, West Antarctica |
title_short |
Past water flow beneath Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers, West Antarctica |
title_full |
Past water flow beneath Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers, West Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Past water flow beneath Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers, West Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Past water flow beneath Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers, West Antarctica |
title_sort |
past water flow beneath pine island and thwaites glaciers, west antarctica |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1959-2019 https://doaj.org/article/c5ff8d7781374c8497b631773892440f |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(160.833,160.833,-77.550,-77.550) |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic West Antarctica Labyrinth |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic West Antarctica Labyrinth |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet Pine Island The Cryosphere West Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet Pine Island The Cryosphere West Antarctica |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 13, Pp 1959-1981 (2019) |
op_relation |
https://www.the-cryosphere.net/13/1959/2019/tc-13-1959-2019.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-13-1959-2019 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/c5ff8d7781374c8497b631773892440f |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1959-2019 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
1959 |
op_container_end_page |
1981 |
_version_ |
1766255002972585984 |