Hot rocks in a cold place: high sub-glacial heat flow in East Antarctica

Numerical models are the primary predictive tools for understanding the dynamic behaviour of the Antarctic ice sheet. However, a key boundary parameter, sub-glacial heat flow, remains poorly constrained. We show that variations in abundance and distribution of heat-producing elements within the Anta...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Chris J. Carson, Sandra McLaren, Jason L. Roberts, Steven D. Boger, Donald D. Blankenship
Format: Other Non-Article Part of Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3453554.v1
https://figshare.com/articles/Hot_rocks_in_a_cold_place_high_sub-glacial_heat_flow_in_East_Antarctica/3453554
Description
Summary:Numerical models are the primary predictive tools for understanding the dynamic behaviour of the Antarctic ice sheet. However, a key boundary parameter, sub-glacial heat flow, remains poorly constrained. We show that variations in abundance and distribution of heat-producing elements within the Antarctic continental crust result in greater and more variable regional sub-glacial heat flows than currently assumed in ice modelling studies. Such elevated heat flows would have a fundamental effect on ice sheet behaviour and highlight that geological controls on heat flow must be considered to obtain more accurate and refined predictions of ice mass balance and sea-level change.