Topographic Controls on Channelized Meltwater in the Subglacial Environment
Realistic characterization of subglacial hydrology necessitates knowledge of the range in form, scale, and spatiotemporal evolution of drainage networks. A relict subglacial meltwater corridor on the deglaciated Antarctic continental shelf encompasses 80 convergent and divergent channels, many of wh...
Published in: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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Main Author: | |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
AGU
2021
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1969.6/93585 https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL094678 |
Summary: | Realistic characterization of subglacial hydrology necessitates knowledge of the range in form, scale, and spatiotemporal evolution of drainage networks. A relict subglacial meltwater corridor on the deglaciated Antarctic continental shelf encompasses 80 convergent and divergent channels, many of which are hundreds of meters wide and several of which lack a definable headwater source. Without significant surface-melt contributions to the bed like similarly described landforms in the Northern Hemisphere, channelized drainage capacity varies non-systematically by three orders of magnitude downstream. This signifies apparent additions and losses of basal water to the bed-channelized system that relates to bed topography. Larger magnitude grounding-line retreat events occurred while the channel system was active than once channelized drainage had ceased. Overall, this corridor demonstrates that meltwater drainage styles co-exist in time and space in response to bed topography, with prolonged impacts on grounding-line behavior. |
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