Detecting and Searching for subglacial lakes through airborne radio-echo sounding in Princess Elizabeth Land (PEL), Antarctica

• Published in: E3S Web of Conferences
• Main Authors: Cui Xiangbin, Lang Shinan, Guo Jingxue, Sun Bo
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; French
• Published: EDP Sciences 2020
• Subjects: geo; Lake Vostok; Princess Elizabeth Land; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202016304002; https://www.e3s-conferences.org/articles/e3sconf/pdf/2020/23/e3sconf_vc2020_04002.pdf; https://doaj.org/article/1aa996b32b9d405aa5d502bede79fd19

Over 400 subglacial lakes were discovered in Antarctica through radio-echo sounding (RES) method and remote sensing. Subglacial lakes have significance in lubricating ice-bedrock interface and enhancing ice flow. Moreover, ancient lives may exist in the extreme environment. Since 2015, the “Snow Eagle 601” BT-67 airborne platform has been deployed and applied to map ice sheet and bedrock of Princess Elizabeth Land. One of great motivations of airborne surveys is to detect and search for subglacial lakes in the region. In this paper, we provided preliminary results of RES over both old and new discovered lakes, including Lake Vostok, a potential second large subglacial lake and other lakes beneath interior of the ice sheet in Antarctica.