Heat flow in southern Australia and connections with East Antarctica
Viscosity and melt generation at the base of ice sheets are critically dependent upon heat flow. Yet subglacial heat flow is poorly constrained due to the logistical challenges of obtaining boreholes that intersect the bedrock beneath thick ice cover. Currently, continental estimates of Antarctic he...
Published in: | Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems |
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American Geophysical Union
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/2440/124204 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GC008418 |
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ftunivadelaidedl:oai:digital.library.adelaide.edu.au:2440/124204 2023-12-17T10:22:12+01:00 Heat flow in southern Australia and connections with East Antarctica Pollett, A. Hasterok, D. Raimondo, T. Halpin, J.A. Hand, M. Bendall, B. McLaren, S. 2019 http://hdl.handle.net/2440/124204 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GC008418 en eng American Geophysical Union http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP180104074 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP0987765 G3: Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems: an electronic journal of the earth sciences, 2019; 20(11):5352-5370 1525-2027 http://hdl.handle.net/2440/124204 doi:10.1029/2019GC008418 Hasterok, D. [0000-0002-8257-7975] Raimondo, T. [0000-0001-9115-9196] Hand, M. [0000-0003-3743-9706] ©2019. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2019gc008418 Heat flow heat production ice sheet Coompana Province East Antarctica Wilkes Land Journal article 2019 ftunivadelaidedl https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GC00841810.1029/2019gc008418 2023-11-20T23:36:21Z Viscosity and melt generation at the base of ice sheets are critically dependent upon heat flow. Yet subglacial heat flow is poorly constrained due to the logistical challenges of obtaining boreholes that intersect the bedrock beneath thick ice cover. Currently, continental estimates of Antarctic heat flow are derived from geophysical methods that provide ambiguous constraints of crustal heat sources, despite their demonstrated importance for accurate predictions of future ice sheet behavior. This study pursues an alternative approach by using heat flow measurements from rock units in the Coompana Province of southern Australia, which represent the geological counterparts of those beneath Wilkes Land in East Antarctica. We present nine new surface heat flow estimates from this previously uncharacterized region, ranging from 40 to 70 mW/m² with an average of 57 ± 3 mW/m². These values compare favorably to recent geophysically derived estimates of 50–75 mW/m² for the Totten Glacier catchment of East Antarctica, and to the single in situ measurement of 75 mW/m² from the Law Dome deep ice borehole. However, they are appreciably lower than the range of 56–120 mW/m² (83 ± 13 mW/m² average) for the abnormally enriched Proterozoic terranes of the Central Australian Heat Flow Province. This study provides the first regional heat flow map of geological provinces formerly contiguous with East Antarctica through the application of continent‐scale heat flow data sets tied to a Jurassic plate tectonic reconstruction for Gondwana. Our approach reveals several discrepancies with current heat flow models derived from geophysical methods and provides a more robust analysis of subglacial heat flow using this plate tectonic synthesis as a proxy for East Antarctica. Alicia Pollett, Derrick Hasterok, Tom Raimondo, Jacqueline A. Halpin, Martin Hand, Betina Bendall, and Sandra McLaren Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Ice Sheet Totten Glacier Wilkes Land The University of Adelaide: Digital Library Alicia ENVELOPE(-63.483,-63.483,-64.833,-64.833) Antarctic East Antarctica Law Dome ENVELOPE(112.833,112.833,-66.733,-66.733) Totten Glacier ENVELOPE(116.333,116.333,-66.833,-66.833) Wilkes Land ENVELOPE(120.000,120.000,-69.000,-69.000) Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 20 11 5352 5370 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
The University of Adelaide: Digital Library |
op_collection_id |
ftunivadelaidedl |
language |
English |
topic |
Heat flow heat production ice sheet Coompana Province East Antarctica Wilkes Land |
spellingShingle |
Heat flow heat production ice sheet Coompana Province East Antarctica Wilkes Land Pollett, A. Hasterok, D. Raimondo, T. Halpin, J.A. Hand, M. Bendall, B. McLaren, S. Heat flow in southern Australia and connections with East Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Heat flow heat production ice sheet Coompana Province East Antarctica Wilkes Land |
description |
Viscosity and melt generation at the base of ice sheets are critically dependent upon heat flow. Yet subglacial heat flow is poorly constrained due to the logistical challenges of obtaining boreholes that intersect the bedrock beneath thick ice cover. Currently, continental estimates of Antarctic heat flow are derived from geophysical methods that provide ambiguous constraints of crustal heat sources, despite their demonstrated importance for accurate predictions of future ice sheet behavior. This study pursues an alternative approach by using heat flow measurements from rock units in the Coompana Province of southern Australia, which represent the geological counterparts of those beneath Wilkes Land in East Antarctica. We present nine new surface heat flow estimates from this previously uncharacterized region, ranging from 40 to 70 mW/m² with an average of 57 ± 3 mW/m². These values compare favorably to recent geophysically derived estimates of 50–75 mW/m² for the Totten Glacier catchment of East Antarctica, and to the single in situ measurement of 75 mW/m² from the Law Dome deep ice borehole. However, they are appreciably lower than the range of 56–120 mW/m² (83 ± 13 mW/m² average) for the abnormally enriched Proterozoic terranes of the Central Australian Heat Flow Province. This study provides the first regional heat flow map of geological provinces formerly contiguous with East Antarctica through the application of continent‐scale heat flow data sets tied to a Jurassic plate tectonic reconstruction for Gondwana. Our approach reveals several discrepancies with current heat flow models derived from geophysical methods and provides a more robust analysis of subglacial heat flow using this plate tectonic synthesis as a proxy for East Antarctica. Alicia Pollett, Derrick Hasterok, Tom Raimondo, Jacqueline A. Halpin, Martin Hand, Betina Bendall, and Sandra McLaren |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Pollett, A. Hasterok, D. Raimondo, T. Halpin, J.A. Hand, M. Bendall, B. McLaren, S. |
author_facet |
Pollett, A. Hasterok, D. Raimondo, T. Halpin, J.A. Hand, M. Bendall, B. McLaren, S. |
author_sort |
Pollett, A. |
title |
Heat flow in southern Australia and connections with East Antarctica |
title_short |
Heat flow in southern Australia and connections with East Antarctica |
title_full |
Heat flow in southern Australia and connections with East Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Heat flow in southern Australia and connections with East Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Heat flow in southern Australia and connections with East Antarctica |
title_sort |
heat flow in southern australia and connections with east antarctica |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2440/124204 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GC008418 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-63.483,-63.483,-64.833,-64.833) ENVELOPE(112.833,112.833,-66.733,-66.733) ENVELOPE(116.333,116.333,-66.833,-66.833) ENVELOPE(120.000,120.000,-69.000,-69.000) |
geographic |
Alicia Antarctic East Antarctica Law Dome Totten Glacier Wilkes Land |
geographic_facet |
Alicia Antarctic East Antarctica Law Dome Totten Glacier Wilkes Land |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Ice Sheet Totten Glacier Wilkes Land |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Ice Sheet Totten Glacier Wilkes Land |
op_source |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2019gc008418 |
op_relation |
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP180104074 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP0987765 G3: Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems: an electronic journal of the earth sciences, 2019; 20(11):5352-5370 1525-2027 http://hdl.handle.net/2440/124204 doi:10.1029/2019GC008418 Hasterok, D. [0000-0002-8257-7975] Raimondo, T. [0000-0001-9115-9196] Hand, M. [0000-0003-3743-9706] |
op_rights |
©2019. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GC00841810.1029/2019gc008418 |
container_title |
Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems |
container_volume |
20 |
container_issue |
11 |
container_start_page |
5352 |
op_container_end_page |
5370 |
_version_ |
1785544714734272512 |