Antarctic subglacial groundwater: a concept paper on its measurement and potential influence on ice flow
Is groundwater abundant in Antarctica and does it modulate ice flow? Answering this question matters because ice streams flow by gliding over a wet substrate of till. Water fed to ice-stream beds thus influences ice-sheet dynamics and, potentially, sea-level rise. It is recognised that both till and...
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ftleedsuniv:oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:113381 2023-05-15T13:38:35+02:00 Antarctic subglacial groundwater: a concept paper on its measurement and potential influence on ice flow Siegert, MJ Kulessa, B Bougamont, M Christoffersen, P Key, K Andersen, KR Booth, AD Smith, AM 2018 text https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/113381/ https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/113381/13/197.full.pdf en eng Geological Society https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/113381/13/197.full.pdf Siegert, MJ, Kulessa, B, Bougamont, M et al. (5 more authors) (2018) Antarctic subglacial groundwater: a concept paper on its measurement and potential influence on ice flow. Geological Society Special Publications, 461. pp. 197-213. ISSN 0305-8719 cc_by_3 CC-BY Article NonPeerReviewed 2018 ftleedsuniv 2023-01-30T21:52:29Z Is groundwater abundant in Antarctica and does it modulate ice flow? Answering this question matters because ice streams flow by gliding over a wet substrate of till. Water fed to ice-stream beds thus influences ice-sheet dynamics and, potentially, sea-level rise. It is recognised that both till and the sedimentary basins from which it originates are porous and could host a reservoir of mobile groundwater that interacts with the subglacial interfacial system. According to recent numerical modelling up to half of all water available for basal lubrication, and time lags between hydrological forcing and ice-sheet response as long as millennia, may have been overlooked in models of ice flow. Here, we review evidence in support of Antarctic groundwater and propose how it can be measured to ascertain the extent to which it modulates ice flow. We present new seismoelectric soundings of subglacial till, and magnetotelluric and transient electromagnetic forward models of subglacial groundwater reservoirs. We demonstrate that multi-facetted and integrated geophysical datasets can detect, delineate and quantify the groundwater contents of subglacial sedimentary basins and, potentially, monitor groundwater exchange rates between subglacial till layers. The paper thus describes a new area of glaciological investigation and how it should progress in future. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet White Rose Research Online (Universities of Leeds, Sheffield & York) Antarctic |
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White Rose Research Online (Universities of Leeds, Sheffield & York) |
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ftleedsuniv |
language |
English |
description |
Is groundwater abundant in Antarctica and does it modulate ice flow? Answering this question matters because ice streams flow by gliding over a wet substrate of till. Water fed to ice-stream beds thus influences ice-sheet dynamics and, potentially, sea-level rise. It is recognised that both till and the sedimentary basins from which it originates are porous and could host a reservoir of mobile groundwater that interacts with the subglacial interfacial system. According to recent numerical modelling up to half of all water available for basal lubrication, and time lags between hydrological forcing and ice-sheet response as long as millennia, may have been overlooked in models of ice flow. Here, we review evidence in support of Antarctic groundwater and propose how it can be measured to ascertain the extent to which it modulates ice flow. We present new seismoelectric soundings of subglacial till, and magnetotelluric and transient electromagnetic forward models of subglacial groundwater reservoirs. We demonstrate that multi-facetted and integrated geophysical datasets can detect, delineate and quantify the groundwater contents of subglacial sedimentary basins and, potentially, monitor groundwater exchange rates between subglacial till layers. The paper thus describes a new area of glaciological investigation and how it should progress in future. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Siegert, MJ Kulessa, B Bougamont, M Christoffersen, P Key, K Andersen, KR Booth, AD Smith, AM |
spellingShingle |
Siegert, MJ Kulessa, B Bougamont, M Christoffersen, P Key, K Andersen, KR Booth, AD Smith, AM Antarctic subglacial groundwater: a concept paper on its measurement and potential influence on ice flow |
author_facet |
Siegert, MJ Kulessa, B Bougamont, M Christoffersen, P Key, K Andersen, KR Booth, AD Smith, AM |
author_sort |
Siegert, MJ |
title |
Antarctic subglacial groundwater: a concept paper on its measurement and potential influence on ice flow |
title_short |
Antarctic subglacial groundwater: a concept paper on its measurement and potential influence on ice flow |
title_full |
Antarctic subglacial groundwater: a concept paper on its measurement and potential influence on ice flow |
title_fullStr |
Antarctic subglacial groundwater: a concept paper on its measurement and potential influence on ice flow |
title_full_unstemmed |
Antarctic subglacial groundwater: a concept paper on its measurement and potential influence on ice flow |
title_sort |
antarctic subglacial groundwater: a concept paper on its measurement and potential influence on ice flow |
publisher |
Geological Society |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/113381/ https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/113381/13/197.full.pdf |
geographic |
Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet |
op_relation |
https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/113381/13/197.full.pdf Siegert, MJ, Kulessa, B, Bougamont, M et al. (5 more authors) (2018) Antarctic subglacial groundwater: a concept paper on its measurement and potential influence on ice flow. Geological Society Special Publications, 461. pp. 197-213. ISSN 0305-8719 |
op_rights |
cc_by_3 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
_version_ |
1766108531831865344 |