Katabatic wind influence on meltwater supply to fuel glacier-substrate interactions at grounding line, Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica

• Main Authors: Bouzette, Ariane, Souchez, Roland
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 1999
• Subjects: Glaciologie; Hells Gate; Marginal Lake; Terra Nova Bay; Annals of Glaciology; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice Shelf
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/173121; https://dipot.ulb.ac.be/dspace/bitstream/2013/173121/3/doi_156751.pdf

The co-isotopic composition, both in δD and in δ18O, of interbedded debris-rich and clear ice layers, thought to have been formed at the grounding line of Hells Gate Ice Shelf, indicates freezing by a double-diffusion effect between continental meltwater and sea water within a subglacial sediment. A source of meltwater is required to sustain the process, since the temperature of the bed is below the freshwater melting point. The most likely source is a surficially frozen meltwater lake.Rock outcrops, kept mostly snow-free by the action of katabatic winds, absorb solar radiation so local production of liquid water becomes possible in an area with year-round subfreezing air-temperature conditions. The meltwater accumulated in a marginal lake can eventually reach the subglacial substratum near a pinning point where the ice is relatively thin and fractured info:eu-repo/semantics/published