Refined Broad-Scale Sub-Glacial Morphology of Aurora Subglacial Basin, East Antarctica Derived by an Ice-Dynamics-Based Interpolation Scheme

• Main Authors: Roberts, J. L., Warner, R. C., Young, D., Wright, A., van Ommen, T. D., Blankenship, D. D., Siegert, M., Young, N. W., Tabacco, I. E., Forieri, A., Passerini, A., Zirizzotti, A., Frezzotti, M.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: topography; balance; thickness; radar; model; geography; physical; geosciences; multidisciplinary; Antarctic; The Antarctic; East Antarctica; Antarc*; Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre; Antarctica; Australian Antarctic Division; Ice Sheet; The Cryosphere
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2152/41173; https://doi.org/10.15781/T2V97ZS8B; https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-5-551-2011

Ice thickness data over much of East Antarctica are sparse and irregularly distributed. This poses difficulties for reconstructing the homogeneous coverage needed to properly assess underlying sub-glacial morphology and fundamental geometric constraints on sea level rise. Here we introduce a new physically-based ice thickness interpolation scheme and apply this to existing ice thickness data in the Aurora Subglacial Basin region. The skill and robustness of the new reconstruction is demonstrated by comparison with new data from the ICECAP project. The interpolated morphology shows an extensive marine-based ice sheet, with considerably more area below sea-level than shown by prior studies. It also shows deep features connecting the coastal grounding zone with the deepest regions in the interior. This has implications for ice sheet response to a warming ocean and underscores the importance of obtaining additional high resolution data in these marginal zones for modelling ice sheet evolution. UK Natural Environment Research Council NE/D003733/1 NSF ANT-0733025 Jackson School of Geosciences G. Unger Vetlesen Foundation Australian Antarctic Division ASAC 3103 Australian Government's Cooperative Research Centre through the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre (ACE CRC) Institute for Geophysics