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 |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Amer Geophysical Union
2019
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GC008418 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/136078 |
id |
ftunivtasecite:oai:ecite.utas.edu.au:136078 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunivtasecite:oai:ecite.utas.edu.au:136078 2023-05-15T13:55:18+02:00 Heat flow in Southern Australia and connections with East Antarctica Pollett, A Hasterok, D Raimondo, T Halpin, JA Hand, M Bendall, B McLaren, S 2019 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GC008418 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/136078 en eng Amer Geophysical Union http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2019GC008418 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP180104074 Pollett, A and Hasterok, D and Raimondo, T and Halpin, JA and Hand, M and Bendall, B and McLaren, S, Heat flow in Southern Australia and connections with East Antarctica, Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, 20, (11) pp. 5352-5370. ISSN 1525-2027 (2019) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/136078 Earth Sciences Geophysics Geothermics and Radiometrics Refereed Article PeerReviewed 2019 ftunivtasecite https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GC008418 2020-03-16T23:16:16Z 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/m 2 with an average of 57 3 mW/m 2 . These values compare favorably to recent geophysically derived estimates of 5075 mW/m 2 for the Totten Glacier catchment of East Antarctica, and to the single in situ measurement of 75 mW/m 2 from the Law Dome deep ice borehole. However, they are appreciably lower than the range of 56120 mW/m 2 (83 13 mW/m 2 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. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Ice Sheet Totten Glacier Wilkes Land eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) Antarctic East Antarctica Wilkes Land ENVELOPE(120.000,120.000,-69.000,-69.000) Law Dome ENVELOPE(112.833,112.833,-66.733,-66.733) Totten Glacier ENVELOPE(116.333,116.333,-66.833,-66.833) Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 20 11 5352 5370 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtasecite |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth Sciences Geophysics Geothermics and Radiometrics |
spellingShingle |
Earth Sciences Geophysics Geothermics and Radiometrics Pollett, A Hasterok, D Raimondo, T Halpin, JA Hand, M Bendall, B McLaren, S Heat flow in Southern Australia and connections with East Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Earth Sciences Geophysics Geothermics and Radiometrics |
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/m 2 with an average of 57 3 mW/m 2 . These values compare favorably to recent geophysically derived estimates of 5075 mW/m 2 for the Totten Glacier catchment of East Antarctica, and to the single in situ measurement of 75 mW/m 2 from the Law Dome deep ice borehole. However, they are appreciably lower than the range of 56120 mW/m 2 (83 13 mW/m 2 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. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Pollett, A Hasterok, D Raimondo, T Halpin, JA Hand, M Bendall, B McLaren, S |
author_facet |
Pollett, A Hasterok, D Raimondo, T Halpin, JA 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 |
Amer Geophysical Union |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GC008418 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/136078 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(120.000,120.000,-69.000,-69.000) ENVELOPE(112.833,112.833,-66.733,-66.733) ENVELOPE(116.333,116.333,-66.833,-66.833) |
geographic |
Antarctic East Antarctica Wilkes Land Law Dome Totten Glacier |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic East Antarctica Wilkes Land Law Dome Totten Glacier |
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_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2019GC008418 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP180104074 Pollett, A and Hasterok, D and Raimondo, T and Halpin, JA and Hand, M and Bendall, B and McLaren, S, Heat flow in Southern Australia and connections with East Antarctica, Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, 20, (11) pp. 5352-5370. ISSN 1525-2027 (2019) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/136078 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GC008418 |
container_title |
Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems |
container_volume |
20 |
container_issue |
11 |
container_start_page |
5352 |
op_container_end_page |
5370 |
_version_ |
1766261717977792512 |