Geological Influences on Bedrock Topography and East Antarctic Ice Sheet Dynamics in the Wilkes Subglacial Basin

• Main Authors: ARMADILLO, EGIDIO, Ferraccioli, Fausto, Young, Duncan A, Blankenship, Donald D, Jordan, Tom A, Balbi, Pietro, Bozzo, Emanuele, Siegert, Martin John
• Other Authors: Armadillo, Egidio
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: Antarctic; East Antarctica; West Antarctic Ice Sheet; East Antarctic Ice Sheet; George V Land; Wilkes Subglacial Basin; Cook Ice Shelf; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice Sheet; Ice Shelf
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11567/854296

The Wilkes Subglacial Basin (WSB) extends for 1,400 km from George V Land into the interior of East Antarctica and hosts several major glaciers that drain a large sector of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS). This region is of key significance for the long-term stability of the ice sheet in East Antarctica, as it lies well below sea level and its bedrock deepens inland, making it potentially prone to marine ice sheet instability, much like areas of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) that are presently experiencing significant mass loss. We present new enhanced potential field images of the WSB combined with existing radar imaging to study geological controls on bedrock topography and ice flow regimes in this key sector of the ice sheet. These images reveal mayor Precambrian and Paleozoic basement faults that exert tectonic controls both on the margins of the basin and its sub-basins. Several major sub-basins can be recognised: the Eastern Basin, the Central Basins and the Western Basins. Using ICECAP aerogeophysical data we show that these tectonically controlled interior basins connect to newly identified basins underlying the Cook Ice Shelf region. This connection implies that any ocean-induced changes at the margin of the EAIS could potentially propagate rapidly further into the interior. With the aid of simple magnetic and gravity models we show that the WSB does not presently include major post Jurassic sedimentary infill. Its bedrock geology is highly variable and includes Proterozoic basement, Neoproterozoic and Cambrian sediments, intruded by Cambrian arc rocks, and cover rocks formed by Beacon sediments intruded by Jurassic Ferrar sills. Enhanced ice flow in this part of the EAIS occurs therefore in a area of mixed and spatially variable bedrock geology. This contrasts with some regions of the WAIS where more extensive sedimentary basins may represent a geological template for the onset and maintenance of fast glacial flow.