Morphometry of bedrock meltwater channels on Antarctic inner continental shelves: Implications for channel development and subglacial hydrology
Expanding multibeam bathymetric data coverage over the last two decades has revealed extensive networks of submarine channels incised into bedrock on the Antarctic inner continental shelf. The large dimensions and prevalence of the channels implies the presence of an active subglacial hydrological s...
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ftriceuniv:oai:scholarship.rice.edu:1911/109383 2023-05-15T13:23:53+02:00 Morphometry of bedrock meltwater channels on Antarctic inner continental shelves: Implications for channel development and subglacial hydrology Kirkham, James D. Hogan, Kelly A. Larter, Robert D. Arnold, Neil S. Nitsche, Frank O. Kuhn, Gerhard Gohl, Karsten Anderson, John B. Dowdeswell, Julian A. 2020 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/1911/109383 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2020.107369 eng eng Elsevier Kirkham, James D., Hogan, Kelly A., Larter, Robert D., et al. "Morphometry of bedrock meltwater channels on Antarctic inner continental shelves: Implications for channel development and subglacial hydrology." Geomorphology, 370, (2020) Elsevier: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2020.107369. https://hdl.handle.net/1911/109383 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2020.107369 This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ CC-BY-NC-ND Antarctica Continental shelf Morphometry Paleoglaciology Subglacial lakes Subglacial meltwater channels Journal article Text publisher version 2020 ftriceuniv https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2020.107369 2022-08-09T20:35:27Z Expanding multibeam bathymetric data coverage over the last two decades has revealed extensive networks of submarine channels incised into bedrock on the Antarctic inner continental shelf. The large dimensions and prevalence of the channels implies the presence of an active subglacial hydrological system beneath the past Antarctic Ice Sheet which we can use to learn more about inaccessible subglacial processes. Here, we map and analyse over 2700 bedrock channels situated across >100,000 km2 of continental shelf in the western Antarctic Peninsula and Amundsen Sea to produce the first inventory of submarine channels on the Antarctic inner continental shelf. Morphometric analysis reveals highly similar distributions of channel widths, depths, cross-sectional areas and geometric properties, with subtle differences between channels in the western Antarctic Peninsula compared to those in the Amundsen Sea. At 75–3400 m wide, 3–280 m deep, 160–290,000 m2 in cross-sectional area, and typically 8 times as wide as they are deep, the channels have similar morphologies to tunnel valleys and meltwater channel systems observed from other formerly glaciated landscapes despite differences in substrate geology and glaciological regime. We propose that the Antarctic bedrock channels formed over multiple glacial cycles through the episodic drainage of at least 59 former subglacial lakes identified on the inner continental shelf. Article in Journal/Newspaper Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Ice Sheet Rice University: Digital Scholarship Archive Amundsen Sea Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Geomorphology 370 107369 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Rice University: Digital Scholarship Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftriceuniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Antarctica Continental shelf Morphometry Paleoglaciology Subglacial lakes Subglacial meltwater channels |
spellingShingle |
Antarctica Continental shelf Morphometry Paleoglaciology Subglacial lakes Subglacial meltwater channels Kirkham, James D. Hogan, Kelly A. Larter, Robert D. Arnold, Neil S. Nitsche, Frank O. Kuhn, Gerhard Gohl, Karsten Anderson, John B. Dowdeswell, Julian A. Morphometry of bedrock meltwater channels on Antarctic inner continental shelves: Implications for channel development and subglacial hydrology |
topic_facet |
Antarctica Continental shelf Morphometry Paleoglaciology Subglacial lakes Subglacial meltwater channels |
description |
Expanding multibeam bathymetric data coverage over the last two decades has revealed extensive networks of submarine channels incised into bedrock on the Antarctic inner continental shelf. The large dimensions and prevalence of the channels implies the presence of an active subglacial hydrological system beneath the past Antarctic Ice Sheet which we can use to learn more about inaccessible subglacial processes. Here, we map and analyse over 2700 bedrock channels situated across >100,000 km2 of continental shelf in the western Antarctic Peninsula and Amundsen Sea to produce the first inventory of submarine channels on the Antarctic inner continental shelf. Morphometric analysis reveals highly similar distributions of channel widths, depths, cross-sectional areas and geometric properties, with subtle differences between channels in the western Antarctic Peninsula compared to those in the Amundsen Sea. At 75–3400 m wide, 3–280 m deep, 160–290,000 m2 in cross-sectional area, and typically 8 times as wide as they are deep, the channels have similar morphologies to tunnel valleys and meltwater channel systems observed from other formerly glaciated landscapes despite differences in substrate geology and glaciological regime. We propose that the Antarctic bedrock channels formed over multiple glacial cycles through the episodic drainage of at least 59 former subglacial lakes identified on the inner continental shelf. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kirkham, James D. Hogan, Kelly A. Larter, Robert D. Arnold, Neil S. Nitsche, Frank O. Kuhn, Gerhard Gohl, Karsten Anderson, John B. Dowdeswell, Julian A. |
author_facet |
Kirkham, James D. Hogan, Kelly A. Larter, Robert D. Arnold, Neil S. Nitsche, Frank O. Kuhn, Gerhard Gohl, Karsten Anderson, John B. Dowdeswell, Julian A. |
author_sort |
Kirkham, James D. |
title |
Morphometry of bedrock meltwater channels on Antarctic inner continental shelves: Implications for channel development and subglacial hydrology |
title_short |
Morphometry of bedrock meltwater channels on Antarctic inner continental shelves: Implications for channel development and subglacial hydrology |
title_full |
Morphometry of bedrock meltwater channels on Antarctic inner continental shelves: Implications for channel development and subglacial hydrology |
title_fullStr |
Morphometry of bedrock meltwater channels on Antarctic inner continental shelves: Implications for channel development and subglacial hydrology |
title_full_unstemmed |
Morphometry of bedrock meltwater channels on Antarctic inner continental shelves: Implications for channel development and subglacial hydrology |
title_sort |
morphometry of bedrock meltwater channels on antarctic inner continental shelves: implications for channel development and subglacial hydrology |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1911/109383 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2020.107369 |
geographic |
Amundsen Sea Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Amundsen Sea Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic |
genre |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Ice Sheet |
op_relation |
Kirkham, James D., Hogan, Kelly A., Larter, Robert D., et al. "Morphometry of bedrock meltwater channels on Antarctic inner continental shelves: Implications for channel development and subglacial hydrology." Geomorphology, 370, (2020) Elsevier: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2020.107369. https://hdl.handle.net/1911/109383 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2020.107369 |
op_rights |
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY-NC-ND |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2020.107369 |
container_title |
Geomorphology |
container_volume |
370 |
container_start_page |
107369 |
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1766376074425401344 |