High geothermal heat flow beneath Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica inferred from aeromagnetic data

Geothermal heat flow in the polar regions plays a crucial role in understanding ice-sheet dynamics and predictions of sea level rise. Continental-scale indirect estimates often have a low spatial resolution and yield largest discrepancies in West Antarctica. Here we analyse geophysical data to estim...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Communications Earth & Environment
Main Authors: Dziadek, Ricarda, Ferraccioli, Fausto, Gohl, Karsten, Department of Geosciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany, British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK, Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz-Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Nature Publishing Group UK 2021
Subjects:
ddc:551.1
Cryospheric science
Geomagnetism
Geophysics
West Antarctica
Amundsen Sea sector
Antarctic
Amundsen Sea
West Antarctic Ice Sheet
Thwaites Glacier
Alfred Wegener Institute
Antarc*
Antarctica
Ice Sheet
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-021-00242-3
http://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?gldocs-11858/11341
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Summary:Geothermal heat flow in the polar regions plays a crucial role in understanding ice-sheet dynamics and predictions of sea level rise. Continental-scale indirect estimates often have a low spatial resolution and yield largest discrepancies in West Antarctica. Here we analyse geophysical data to estimate geothermal heat flow in the Amundsen Sea Sector of West Antarctica. With Curie depth analysis based on a new magnetic anomaly grid compilation, we reveal variations in lithospheric thermal gradients. We show that the rapidly retreating Thwaites and Pope glaciers in particular are underlain by areas of largely elevated geothermal heat flow, which relates to the tectonic and magmatic history of the West Antarctic Rift System in this region. Our results imply that the behavior of this vulnerable sector of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is strongly coupled to the dynamics of the underlying lithosphere. The Amundsen Sea sector, Antarctica, is underlain by shallow Curie depths – where the magnetic properties of rocks change – according to airborne magnetic data. This suggests high geothermal heat flow in this region of the West Antarctic Rift System. Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (Alfred-Wegener- Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research) https://doi.org/10.13039/501100003207 European Space Agency (ESA) https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000844 Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) https://doi.org/10.13039/501100001659 https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.932452

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