Evidence for the long-term sedimentary environment in an Antarctic subglacial lake
Lakes beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet are of fundamental scientific interest for their ability to contain unique records of ice sheet history and microbial life in their sediments. However, no records of subglacial lake sedimentation have yet been acquired from beneath the interior of the ice sheet,...
Published in: | Earth and Planetary Science Letters |
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:518131 2023-05-15T13:49:34+02:00 Evidence for the long-term sedimentary environment in an Antarctic subglacial lake Smith, Andrew M. Woodward, John Ross, Neil Bentley, Michael J. Hodgson, Dominic A. Siegert, Martin J. King, Edward C. 2018-10-18 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/518131/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/518131/1/1-s2.0-S0012821X18305995-main.pdf https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X18305995 en eng Elsevier https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/518131/1/1-s2.0-S0012821X18305995-main.pdf Smith, Andrew M. orcid:0000-0001-8577-482X Woodward, John; Ross, Neil; Bentley, Michael J.; Hodgson, Dominic A. orcid:0000-0002-3841-3746 Siegert, Martin J.; King, Edward C. orcid:0000-0003-3793-3915 . 2018 Evidence for the long-term sedimentary environment in an Antarctic subglacial lake. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 504. 139-151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2018.10.011 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2018.10.011> cc_by_4 CC-BY Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2018 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2018.10.011 2023-02-04T19:45:31Z Lakes beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet are of fundamental scientific interest for their ability to contain unique records of ice sheet history and microbial life in their sediments. However, no records of subglacial lake sedimentation have yet been acquired from beneath the interior of the ice sheet, and understanding of sediment pathways, processes and structure in subglacial lake environments remains uncertain. Here we present an analysis of seismic data from Subglacial Lake Ellsworth, showing that the lake bed comprises very fine-grained sediments deposited in a low energy environment, with low water- and sediment-fluxes. Minimum sediment thickness is 6 m, the result of prolonged low sedimentation rates. Based on the few available analogues, we speculate this sediment age range is a minimum of 150 ka, and possibly >1 Ma. Sediment mass movements have occurred, but they are rare and have been buried by subsequent sedimentation. We present a new conceptual model of subglacial lake sedimentation, allowing a framework for evaluating processes in subglacial lake environments, and for determining future lake access locations and interpreting subglacial lake samples. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Antarctic The Antarctic Earth and Planetary Science Letters 504 139 151 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
English |
description |
Lakes beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet are of fundamental scientific interest for their ability to contain unique records of ice sheet history and microbial life in their sediments. However, no records of subglacial lake sedimentation have yet been acquired from beneath the interior of the ice sheet, and understanding of sediment pathways, processes and structure in subglacial lake environments remains uncertain. Here we present an analysis of seismic data from Subglacial Lake Ellsworth, showing that the lake bed comprises very fine-grained sediments deposited in a low energy environment, with low water- and sediment-fluxes. Minimum sediment thickness is 6 m, the result of prolonged low sedimentation rates. Based on the few available analogues, we speculate this sediment age range is a minimum of 150 ka, and possibly >1 Ma. Sediment mass movements have occurred, but they are rare and have been buried by subsequent sedimentation. We present a new conceptual model of subglacial lake sedimentation, allowing a framework for evaluating processes in subglacial lake environments, and for determining future lake access locations and interpreting subglacial lake samples. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Smith, Andrew M. Woodward, John Ross, Neil Bentley, Michael J. Hodgson, Dominic A. Siegert, Martin J. King, Edward C. |
spellingShingle |
Smith, Andrew M. Woodward, John Ross, Neil Bentley, Michael J. Hodgson, Dominic A. Siegert, Martin J. King, Edward C. Evidence for the long-term sedimentary environment in an Antarctic subglacial lake |
author_facet |
Smith, Andrew M. Woodward, John Ross, Neil Bentley, Michael J. Hodgson, Dominic A. Siegert, Martin J. King, Edward C. |
author_sort |
Smith, Andrew M. |
title |
Evidence for the long-term sedimentary environment in an Antarctic subglacial lake |
title_short |
Evidence for the long-term sedimentary environment in an Antarctic subglacial lake |
title_full |
Evidence for the long-term sedimentary environment in an Antarctic subglacial lake |
title_fullStr |
Evidence for the long-term sedimentary environment in an Antarctic subglacial lake |
title_full_unstemmed |
Evidence for the long-term sedimentary environment in an Antarctic subglacial lake |
title_sort |
evidence for the long-term sedimentary environment in an antarctic subglacial lake |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/518131/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/518131/1/1-s2.0-S0012821X18305995-main.pdf https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X18305995 |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/518131/1/1-s2.0-S0012821X18305995-main.pdf Smith, Andrew M. orcid:0000-0001-8577-482X Woodward, John; Ross, Neil; Bentley, Michael J.; Hodgson, Dominic A. orcid:0000-0002-3841-3746 Siegert, Martin J.; King, Edward C. orcid:0000-0003-3793-3915 . 2018 Evidence for the long-term sedimentary environment in an Antarctic subglacial lake. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 504. 139-151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2018.10.011 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2018.10.011> |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2018.10.011 |
container_title |
Earth and Planetary Science Letters |
container_volume |
504 |
container_start_page |
139 |
op_container_end_page |
151 |
_version_ |
1766251709448847360 |