| Summary: | The lithosphere of East Antarctica, undoubtedly as complex as its neighbours in Gondwana, presents particular challenges in progressing the understanding of its tectonic nature due to its remote location and the harsh environment for on-ground geophysical instruments. Satellite-based and airborne data gathering has enabled composite maps for subglacial topography and potential field properties to be developed (e.g., Bedmap3, ADMAP2, ADGRAV) while international initiatives (such as 3D-Earth) provide 3D reference models of the crust and upper mantle with improving on-ground constraints for properties such as seismic wavespeed. In this contribution, we share information on a new facility ‘Geophysical Research Instrumentation for AnTarctica’ (GRIT) that is enabling new ground-based data to be collected across multiple geophysical techniques (currently seismic, magnetotelluric, GNSS). We present an updated seismic crustal structure for the East Antarctic sector between Mawson and Dumont D’Urvillle stations (including new locations on remote outcrops), in the context of recent satellite-based studies. We also illustrate the relative importance of different observables as ‘integrator’ datasets for multivariate studies that show exceptional promise in multidisciplinary geoscience research, and how computational approaches can provide quantitative metrics to optimise targets for future field campaigns. A better understanding of the heterogeneous lithosphere and deeper Earth, and interactions between the solid Earth and ice sheets, is urgently needed for Antarctica as this informs the response of ice sheets to global change. Combining the results of computational approaches and international initiatives for data collection and collation will result in optimised and accelerated research progress in the coming years.
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