Stratigraphic analysis of firn cores from an Antarctic ice shelf firn aquifer
In recent decades, several large ice shelves in the Antarctic Peninsula region have experienced significant ice loss, likely driven by a combination of oceanic, atmospheric and hydrological processes. All three areas need further research, however, in the case of the role of liquid water the first c...
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Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
2021
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ftlincolnuniv:oai:researcharchive.lincoln.ac.nz:10182/15129 2023-12-31T10:01:11+01:00 Stratigraphic analysis of firn cores from an Antarctic ice shelf firn aquifer MacDonell, Shelley Fernandoy, F Villar, P Hammann, A 2021-03-08 17 pages https://hdl.handle.net/10182/15129 https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=elements_prod&SrcAuth=WosAPI&KeyUT=WOS:000628583000001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=WOS https://doi.org/10.3390/w13050731 en eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) The original publication is available from Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) - https://doi.org/10.3390/w13050731 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w13050731 Water: an open access journal https://doi.org/10.3390/w13050731 https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=elements_prod&SrcAuth=WosAPI&KeyUT=WOS:000628583000001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=WOS doi:10.3390/w13050731 2073-4441 QW3WC (isidoc) https://hdl.handle.net/10182/15129 © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Attribution https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Antarctica firn aquifer glacier hydrology ice core ice shelf stratigraphy Journal Article 2021 ftlincolnuniv https://doi.org/10.3390/w13050731 2023-12-05T18:26:37Z In recent decades, several large ice shelves in the Antarctic Peninsula region have experienced significant ice loss, likely driven by a combination of oceanic, atmospheric and hydrological processes. All three areas need further research, however, in the case of the role of liquid water the first concern is to address the paucity of field measurements. Despite this shortage of field observations, several authors have proposed the existence of firn aquifers on Antarctic ice shelves, however little is known about their distribution, formation, extension and role in ice shelf mechanics. In this study we present the discovery of saturated firn at three drill sites on the Müller Ice Shelf (67°14' S; 66°52' W), which leads us to conclude that either a large contiguous or several disconnected smaller firn aquifers exist on this ice shelf. From the stratigraphic analysis of three short firn cores extracted during February 2019 we describe a new classification system to identify the structures and morphological signatures of refrozen meltwater, identify evidence of superficial meltwater percolation, and use this information to propose a conceptual model of firn aquifer development on the Müller Ice Shelf. The detailed stratigraphic analysis of the sampled cores will provide an invaluable baseline for modelling studies. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica ice core Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Müller Ice Shelf Lincoln University (New Zealand): Lincoln U Research Archive Water 13 5 731 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Lincoln University (New Zealand): Lincoln U Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftlincolnuniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Antarctica firn aquifer glacier hydrology ice core ice shelf stratigraphy |
spellingShingle |
Antarctica firn aquifer glacier hydrology ice core ice shelf stratigraphy MacDonell, Shelley Fernandoy, F Villar, P Hammann, A Stratigraphic analysis of firn cores from an Antarctic ice shelf firn aquifer |
topic_facet |
Antarctica firn aquifer glacier hydrology ice core ice shelf stratigraphy |
description |
In recent decades, several large ice shelves in the Antarctic Peninsula region have experienced significant ice loss, likely driven by a combination of oceanic, atmospheric and hydrological processes. All three areas need further research, however, in the case of the role of liquid water the first concern is to address the paucity of field measurements. Despite this shortage of field observations, several authors have proposed the existence of firn aquifers on Antarctic ice shelves, however little is known about their distribution, formation, extension and role in ice shelf mechanics. In this study we present the discovery of saturated firn at three drill sites on the Müller Ice Shelf (67°14' S; 66°52' W), which leads us to conclude that either a large contiguous or several disconnected smaller firn aquifers exist on this ice shelf. From the stratigraphic analysis of three short firn cores extracted during February 2019 we describe a new classification system to identify the structures and morphological signatures of refrozen meltwater, identify evidence of superficial meltwater percolation, and use this information to propose a conceptual model of firn aquifer development on the Müller Ice Shelf. The detailed stratigraphic analysis of the sampled cores will provide an invaluable baseline for modelling studies. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
MacDonell, Shelley Fernandoy, F Villar, P Hammann, A |
author_facet |
MacDonell, Shelley Fernandoy, F Villar, P Hammann, A |
author_sort |
MacDonell, Shelley |
title |
Stratigraphic analysis of firn cores from an Antarctic ice shelf firn aquifer |
title_short |
Stratigraphic analysis of firn cores from an Antarctic ice shelf firn aquifer |
title_full |
Stratigraphic analysis of firn cores from an Antarctic ice shelf firn aquifer |
title_fullStr |
Stratigraphic analysis of firn cores from an Antarctic ice shelf firn aquifer |
title_full_unstemmed |
Stratigraphic analysis of firn cores from an Antarctic ice shelf firn aquifer |
title_sort |
stratigraphic analysis of firn cores from an antarctic ice shelf firn aquifer |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10182/15129 https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=elements_prod&SrcAuth=WosAPI&KeyUT=WOS:000628583000001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=WOS https://doi.org/10.3390/w13050731 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica ice core Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Müller Ice Shelf |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica ice core Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Müller Ice Shelf |
op_relation |
The original publication is available from Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) - https://doi.org/10.3390/w13050731 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w13050731 Water: an open access journal https://doi.org/10.3390/w13050731 https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=elements_prod&SrcAuth=WosAPI&KeyUT=WOS:000628583000001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=WOS doi:10.3390/w13050731 2073-4441 QW3WC (isidoc) https://hdl.handle.net/10182/15129 |
op_rights |
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Attribution https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/w13050731 |
container_title |
Water |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
731 |
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1786796546820407296 |