Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Ocean access to a cavity beneath Totten Glacier in East Antarctica

Nature Geoscience volume 8, pages 294–298 (2015)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Totten Glacier, the primary outlet of the Aurora Subglacial Basin, has the largest thinning rate in East Antarctica1,2. Thinning may be driven by enhanced basal melting due to ocean processes3, modulated by polynya activity4,5. Warm modified Circumpolar Deep Water, which has been linked to glacier retreat in West Antarctica6, has been observed in summer and winter on the nearby continental shelf beneath 400 to 500 m of cool Antarctic Surface Water7,8. Here we derive the bathymetry of the sea floor in the region from gravity9 and magnetics10 data as well as ice-thickness measurements11. We identify entrances to the ice-shelf cavity below depths of 400 to 500 m that could allow intrusions of warm water if the vertical structure of inflow is similar to nearby observations. Radar sounding reveals a previously unknown inland trough that connects the main ice-shelf cavity to the ocean. If thinning trends continue, a larger water body over the trough could potentially allow more warm water into the cavity, which may, eventually, lead to destabilization of the low-lying region between Totten Glacier and the similarly deep glacier flowing into the Reynolds Trough. We estimate that at least 3.5 m of eustatic sea level potential drains through Totten Glacier, so coastal processes in this area could have global consequences.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Satellite imagery, a priori ice-bottom elevation map, and gravity data coverage of the study area.
Figure 2: Shape of the sea floor beneath the Totten Glacier Ice Shelf.
Figure 3: A newly discovered oceanic entryway to Totten Glacier.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Flament, T. & Rémy, F. Dynamic thinning of Antarctic glaciers from along-track repeat radar altimetry. J. Glaciol. 58, 830–840 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Pritchard, H. D., Arthern, R. J., Vaughan, D. G. & Edwards, L. A. Extensive dynamic thinning on the margins of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. Nature 461, 971–975 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Pritchard, H. D. et al. Antarctic ice-sheet loss driven by basal melting of ice shelves. Nature 484, 502–505 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Gwyther, D. E., Galton-Fenzi, B. K., Hunter, J. R. & Roberts, J. L. Simulated melt rates for the Totten and Dalton ice shelves. Ocean Sci. Discuss. 10, 2109–2140 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Khazendar, A. et al. Observed thinning of Totten Glacier is linked to coastal polynya variability. Nature Commun. 4, 2857 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Jenkins, A. et al. Observations beneath Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica and implications for its retreat. Nature Geosci. 3, 468–472 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Bindoff, N. L., Rosenberg, M. A. & Warner, M. J. On the circulation and water masses over the Antarctic continental slope and rise between 80 and 150° E. Deep Sea Res. 47, 2299–2326 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Williams, G. D. et al. Late winter oceanography off the Sabrina and BANZARE coast (117–128° E), East Antarctica. Deep Sea Res. 58, 1194–1210 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Parker, R. L. The rapid calculation of potential anomalies. Geophys. J. R. Astron. Soc. 31, 447–455 (1973).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Aitken, A. R. A. et al. The subglacial geology of Wilkes Land, East Antarctica. Geophys. Res. Lett. 41, 2390–2400 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Young, D. A. et al. A dynamic early East Antarctic Ice Sheet suggested by ice-covered fjord landscapes. Nature 474, 72–75 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Pollard, D., DeConto, R. M. & Alley, R. B. Potential Antarctic Ice Sheet retreat driven by hydrofracturing and ice cliff failure. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 412, 112–121 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Galton-Fenzi, B., Maraldi, C., Coleman, R. & Hunter, J. The cavity under the Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica. J. Glaciol. 54, 881–887 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Rignot, E., Mouginot, J. & Scheuchl, B. Antarctic grounding line mapping from differential satellite radar interferometry. Geophys. Res. Lett. 38, L10504 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Bohlander, J. & Scambos, T. Antarctic Coastlines and Grounding Line Derived from MODIS Mosaic of Antarctica (MOA) (National Snow and Ice Data Center, 2007); http://nsidc.org/data/atlas/news/antarctic_coastlines.html

    Google Scholar 

  16. Bindschadler, R., Vaughan, D. G. & Vornberger, P. Variability of basal melt beneath the Pine Island Glacier Ice Shelf, West Antarctica. J. Glaciol. 57, 581–595 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Van den Broeke, M. Depth and density of the Antarctic firn layer. Arct. Antarct. Alp. Res. 40, 432–438 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Scambos, T. A., Haran, T. M., Fahnestock, M. A., Painter, T. H. & Bohlander, J. MODIS-based Mosaic of Antarctica (MOA) data sets: Continent-wide surface morphology and snow grain size. Remote Sens. Environ. 111, 242–257 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Neal, C. Radio echo determination of basal roughness characteristics on the Ross Ice Shelf. Ann. Glaciol. 3, 216–221 (1982).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Van Beek, L. Dielectric behaviour of heterogeneous systems. Prog. Dielectr. 7, 69–114 (1967).

    Google Scholar 

  21. Peters, M. E., Blankenship, D. D. & Morse, D. L. Analysis techniques for coherent airborne radar sounding: Application to West Antarctic ice streams. J. Geophys. Res. 110, B06303 (2005).

    Google Scholar 

  22. Schroeder, D. M., Blankenship, D. D. & Young, D. A. Evidence for a water system transition beneath Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 110, 12225–12228 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Holdsworth, G. Flexure of a floating ice tongue. J. Glaciol. 8, 385–397 (1969).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Vaughan, D. G. Tidal flexure at ice shelf margins. J. Geophys. Res. 100, 6213–6224 (1995).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Rignot, E. Mass balance of East Antarctic glaciers and ice shelves from satellite data. Ann. Glaciol. 34, 217–227 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Fretwell, P. et al. Bedmap2: Improved ice bed, surface and thickness datasets for Antarctica. Cryosphere 7, 375–393 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Arndt, J. E. et al. The International Bathymetric Chart of the Southern Ocean (IBCSO) Version 1.0—A new bathymetric compilation covering circum-Antarctic waters. Geophys. Res. Lett. 40, 3111–3117 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Chen, J. L., Wilson, C. R., Blankenship, D. & Tapley, B. D. Accelerated Antarctic ice loss from satellite gravity measurements. Nature Geosci. 2, 859–862 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Bamber, J. L., Riva, R. E. M., Vermeersen, B. L. A. & LeBrocq, A. M. Reassessment of the potential sea-level rise from a collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Science 324, 901–903 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Young, D. A. et al. Land-ice elevation changes from photon-counting swath altimetry: First applications over the Antarctic Ice Sheet. J. Glaciol. 61, 17–28 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This project is the result of the ongoing ICECAP collaboration between the USA, UK and Australia with support from NSF grants PLR-0733025 and PLR-1143843, and CDI-0941678, NASA grants NNG10HPO6C and NNX11AD33G (Operation Ice Bridge and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act), Australian Antarctic Division projects 3013 and 4077, NERC grant NE/D003733/1, the G. Unger Vetlesen Foundation, the Jackson School of Geosciences, and the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre. We thank the captains and crews of Kenn Borek Airlines Ltd, ICECAP project participants, CMG Operations Pty Ltd, and the Geosoft Education Program. We also thank S. Kempf for assistance with radar data processing, as well as A. Leventer, A. Wåhlin, D. Gwyther, K. Soderlund, C. Grima, F. Habbal and S. Zedler for comments on the manuscript. Part of the research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. This is UTIG contribution 2831.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Geophysics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78758, USA

    J. S. Greenbaum, D. D. Blankenship, D. A. Young & T. G. Richter

  2. Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 80, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia

    J. L. Roberts, B. Legresy, R. C. Warner & T. D. van Ommen

  3. Australian Antarctic Division, Channel Highway, Kingston, Tasmania 7050, Australia

    J. L. Roberts, R. C. Warner & T. D. van Ommen

  4. School of Earth and Environment, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia

    A. R. A. Aitken

  5. CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship, Castray Esplanade, Hobart, Tasmania 7000, Australia

    B. Legresy

  6. CNRS-LEGOS, 14 Av. E. Belin, 31400, Toulouse, France

    B. Legresy

  7. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91109, USA

    D. M. Schroeder

  8. Grantham Institute and Department of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK

    M. J. Siegert

Authors
  1. J. S. Greenbaum
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. D. D. Blankenship
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. D. A. Young
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. T. G. Richter
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. J. L. Roberts
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. A. R. A. Aitken
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. B. Legresy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. D. M. Schroeder
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. R. C. Warner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. T. D. van Ommen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. M. J. Siegert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

J.S.G. performed the gravity inversions, magnetic depth to basement estimates, hydrostatic analysis, applied the bed reflectivity corrections, and wrote the manuscript. D.D.B., D.A.Y. and A.R.A.A. assisted with the potential field interpretations. J.S.G. and T.G.R. performed the initial gravity reduction and J.S.G. levelled the result. J.L.R. estimated the sea level potential for Totten Glacier. B.L. computed the percentage deflection expected for a range of trough widths and commented on what would be detectable using existing ERS data. D.M.S. provided radar technical and interpretation guidance for the discussion of reflectivity and specularity. A.R.A.A. performed the magnetics data reduction. J.L.R., R.C.W. and T.D.v.O. provided the glaciological context for Totten Glacier. J.S.G., D.A.Y., D.D.B., T.D.v.O., J.L.R., M.J.S. and R.C.W. designed the surveys. J.S.G., D.A.Y., T.D.v.O., J.L.R. and R.C.W. collected the data. All authors contributed comments to the interpretation of results and preparation of the final paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. S. Greenbaum.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Information (PDF 2340 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Greenbaum, J., Blankenship, D., Young, D. et al. Ocean access to a cavity beneath Totten Glacier in East Antarctica. Nature Geosci 8, 294–298 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2388

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2388

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing