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Influence of subglacial geology on the onset of a West Antarctic ice stream from aerogeophysical observations

Nature volume 394, pages 58–62 (1998)Cite this article

Abstract

Marine ice-sheet collapse can contribute to rapid sea-level rise1. Today, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet contains an amount of ice equivalent to approximately six metres of sea-level rise, but most of the ice is in the slowly moving interior reservoir. A relatively small fraction of the ice sheet comprises several rapidly flowing ice streams which drain the ice to the sea. The evolution of this drainage system almost certainly governs the process of ice-sheet collapse2,3,4,5. The thick and slow-moving interior ice reservoir is generally fixed to the underlying bedrock while the ice streams glide over lubricated beds at velocities of up to several hundred metres per year. The source of the basal lubricant — a water-saturated till6,7 overlain by a water system8 — may be linked to the underlying geology. The West Antarctic Ice Sheet rests over a geologically complex region characterized by thin crust, high heat flows, active volcanism and sedimentary basins9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16. Here we use aerogeophysical measurements to constrain the geological setting of the onset of an active West Antarctic ice stream. The onset coincides with a sediment-filled basin incised by a steep-sided valley. This observation supports the suggestion5,17 that ice-stream dynamics — and therefore the response of the West Antarctice Ice Sheet to changes in climate — are strongly modulated by the underlying geology.

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Figure 1: Map of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
Figure 2: Aerogeophysical maps and satellite images of the onset region.
Figure 3: Radar profiles.
Figure 4: Potential field modelling results and stacked profiles.

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Acknowledgements

We thank R. Arko, M. Studinger and S. Kempf for assistance. This Letter was improved by contributions from G. Karner and C. Small. This work was supported by the US NSF.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, 10964, New York, USA

    R. E. Bell

  2. Institute for Geophysics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, 78759, Texas, USA

    D. D. Blankenship & D. L. Morse

  3. US Geologic Survey, Denver, 80225, Colorado, USA

    C. A. Finn

  4. National Snow and Ice Data Center, Boulder, 80309, Colorado, USA

    T. A. Scambos

  5. Naval Research Laboratory, 20375, Washington DC, USA

    J. M. Brozena

  6. US Geologic Survey, Tacoma, 98406, Washington, USA

    S. M. Hodge

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  1. R. E. Bell
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Correspondence to R. E. Bell.

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Bell, R., Blankenship, D., Finn, C. et al. Influence of subglacial geology on the onset of a West Antarctic ice stream from aerogeophysical observations. Nature 394, 58–62 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/27883

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