Extensive palaeo-surfaces beneath the Evans–Rutford region of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet control modern and past ice flow
The subglacial landscape of Antarctica records and influences the behaviour of its overlying ice sheet. However, in many places, the evolution of the landscape and its control on ice sheet behaviour have not been investigated in detail. Using recently released radio-echo sounding data, we investigat...
Published in: | The Cryosphere |
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European Geosciences Union
2024
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:537399 2024-06-02T07:56:02+00:00 Extensive palaeo-surfaces beneath the Evans–Rutford region of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet control modern and past ice flow Carter, Charlotte M. Bentley, Michael J. Jamieson, Stewart S. R. Paxman, Guy J.G. Jordan, Tom A. Bodart, Julien A. Ross, Neil Napoleoni, Felipe 2024-05-07 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/537399/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/537399/1/tc-18-2277-2024.pdf https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/18/2277/2024/tc-18-2277-2024.html en eng European Geosciences Union https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/537399/1/tc-18-2277-2024.pdf Carter, Charlotte M.; Bentley, Michael J.; Jamieson, Stewart S. R.; Paxman, Guy J.G.; Jordan, Tom A. orcid:0000-0003-2780-1986 Bodart, Julien A. orcid:0000-0002-8237-0675 Ross, Neil; Napoleoni, Felipe. 2024 Extensive palaeo-surfaces beneath the Evans–Rutford region of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet control modern and past ice flow. The Cryosphere, 18 (5). 2277-2296. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2277-2024 <https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2277-2024> cc_by_4 Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2024 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2277-2024 2024-05-07T23:32:29Z The subglacial landscape of Antarctica records and influences the behaviour of its overlying ice sheet. However, in many places, the evolution of the landscape and its control on ice sheet behaviour have not been investigated in detail. Using recently released radio-echo sounding data, we investigate the subglacial landscape of the Evans–Rutford region of West Antarctica. Following quantitative analysis of the landscape morphology under ice-loaded and ice-unloaded conditions, we identify 10 flat surfaces distributed across the region. Across these 10 surfaces, we identify two distinct populations based on clustering of elevations, which potentially represent remnants of regionally coherent pre-glacial surfaces underlying the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). The surfaces are bounded by deeply incised glacial troughs, some of which have potential tectonic controls. We assess two hypotheses for the evolution of the regional landscape: (1) passive-margin evolution associated with the break-up of the Gondwana supercontinent or (2) an extensive planation surface that may have been uplifted in association with either the West Antarctic Rift System or cessation of subduction at the base of the Antarctic Peninsula. We suggest that passive-margin evolution is the most likely of these two mechanisms, with the erosion of glacial troughs adjacent to, and incising, the flat surfaces likely having coincided with the growth of the WAIS. These flat surfaces also demonstrate similarities to other identified surfaces, indicating that a similar formational process may have been acting more widely around the Weddell Sea embayment. The subsequent fluctuations of ice flow, basal thermal regime, and erosion patterns of the WAIS are therefore controlled by the regional tectonic structures Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Ice Sheet The Cryosphere Weddell Sea West Antarctica Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Weddell Sea West Antarctica West Antarctic Ice Sheet Weddell Rutford ENVELOPE(-85.300,-85.300,-78.600,-78.600) The Cryosphere 18 5 2277 2296 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
English |
description |
The subglacial landscape of Antarctica records and influences the behaviour of its overlying ice sheet. However, in many places, the evolution of the landscape and its control on ice sheet behaviour have not been investigated in detail. Using recently released radio-echo sounding data, we investigate the subglacial landscape of the Evans–Rutford region of West Antarctica. Following quantitative analysis of the landscape morphology under ice-loaded and ice-unloaded conditions, we identify 10 flat surfaces distributed across the region. Across these 10 surfaces, we identify two distinct populations based on clustering of elevations, which potentially represent remnants of regionally coherent pre-glacial surfaces underlying the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). The surfaces are bounded by deeply incised glacial troughs, some of which have potential tectonic controls. We assess two hypotheses for the evolution of the regional landscape: (1) passive-margin evolution associated with the break-up of the Gondwana supercontinent or (2) an extensive planation surface that may have been uplifted in association with either the West Antarctic Rift System or cessation of subduction at the base of the Antarctic Peninsula. We suggest that passive-margin evolution is the most likely of these two mechanisms, with the erosion of glacial troughs adjacent to, and incising, the flat surfaces likely having coincided with the growth of the WAIS. These flat surfaces also demonstrate similarities to other identified surfaces, indicating that a similar formational process may have been acting more widely around the Weddell Sea embayment. The subsequent fluctuations of ice flow, basal thermal regime, and erosion patterns of the WAIS are therefore controlled by the regional tectonic structures |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Carter, Charlotte M. Bentley, Michael J. Jamieson, Stewart S. R. Paxman, Guy J.G. Jordan, Tom A. Bodart, Julien A. Ross, Neil Napoleoni, Felipe |
spellingShingle |
Carter, Charlotte M. Bentley, Michael J. Jamieson, Stewart S. R. Paxman, Guy J.G. Jordan, Tom A. Bodart, Julien A. Ross, Neil Napoleoni, Felipe Extensive palaeo-surfaces beneath the Evans–Rutford region of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet control modern and past ice flow |
author_facet |
Carter, Charlotte M. Bentley, Michael J. Jamieson, Stewart S. R. Paxman, Guy J.G. Jordan, Tom A. Bodart, Julien A. Ross, Neil Napoleoni, Felipe |
author_sort |
Carter, Charlotte M. |
title |
Extensive palaeo-surfaces beneath the Evans–Rutford region of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet control modern and past ice flow |
title_short |
Extensive palaeo-surfaces beneath the Evans–Rutford region of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet control modern and past ice flow |
title_full |
Extensive palaeo-surfaces beneath the Evans–Rutford region of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet control modern and past ice flow |
title_fullStr |
Extensive palaeo-surfaces beneath the Evans–Rutford region of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet control modern and past ice flow |
title_full_unstemmed |
Extensive palaeo-surfaces beneath the Evans–Rutford region of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet control modern and past ice flow |
title_sort |
extensive palaeo-surfaces beneath the evans–rutford region of the west antarctic ice sheet control modern and past ice flow |
publisher |
European Geosciences Union |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/537399/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/537399/1/tc-18-2277-2024.pdf https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/18/2277/2024/tc-18-2277-2024.html |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-85.300,-85.300,-78.600,-78.600) |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Weddell Sea West Antarctica West Antarctic Ice Sheet Weddell Rutford |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Weddell Sea West Antarctica West Antarctic Ice Sheet Weddell Rutford |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Ice Sheet The Cryosphere Weddell Sea West Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Ice Sheet The Cryosphere Weddell Sea West Antarctica |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/537399/1/tc-18-2277-2024.pdf Carter, Charlotte M.; Bentley, Michael J.; Jamieson, Stewart S. R.; Paxman, Guy J.G.; Jordan, Tom A. orcid:0000-0003-2780-1986 Bodart, Julien A. orcid:0000-0002-8237-0675 Ross, Neil; Napoleoni, Felipe. 2024 Extensive palaeo-surfaces beneath the Evans–Rutford region of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet control modern and past ice flow. The Cryosphere, 18 (5). 2277-2296. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2277-2024 <https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2277-2024> |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2277-2024 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
18 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
2277 |
op_container_end_page |
2296 |
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1800752995796779008 |