| 1. |
- Fretwell, P., et al.
(författare)
-
Bedmap2 : improved ice bed, surface and thickness datasets for Antarctica
- 2013
-
Ingår i: The Cryosphere. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1994-0416 .- 1994-0424. ; 7:1, s. 375-393
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present Bedmap2, a new suite of gridded products describing surface elevation, ice-thickness and the seafloor and subglacial bed elevation of the Antarctic south of 60 degrees S. We derived these products using data from a variety of sources, including many substantial surveys completed since the original Bedmap compilation (Bedmap1) in 2001. In particular, the Bedmap2 ice thickness grid is made from 25 million measurements, over two orders of magnitude more than were used in Bedmap1. In most parts of Antarctica the subglacial landscape is visible in much greater detail than was previously available and the improved data-coverage has in many areas revealed the full scale of mountain ranges, valleys, basins and troughs, only fragments of which were previously indicated in local surveys. The derived statistics for Bedmap2 show that the volume of ice contained in the Antarctic ice sheet (27 million km(3)) and its potential contribution to sea-level rise (58 m) are similar to those of Bedmap1, but the mean thickness of the ice sheet is 4.6% greater, the mean depth of the bed beneath the grounded ice sheet is 72m lower and the area of ice sheet grounded on bed below sea level is increased by 10 %. The Bedmap2 compilation highlights several areas beneath the ice sheet where the bed elevation is substantially lower than the deepest bed indicated by Bedmap1. These products, along with grids of data coverage and uncertainty, provide new opportunities for detailed modelling of the past and future evolution of the Antarctic ice sheets.
|
|
| 2. |
- Kennicutt, M. C., et al.
(författare)
-
Delivering 21st century Antarctic and Southern Ocean science
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Antarctic Science. - 0954-1020 .- 1365-2079. ; 28, s. 407-423
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- © Antarctic Science Ltd 2016.The Antarctic Roadmap Challenges (ARC) project identified critical requirements to deliver high priority Antarctic research in the 21st century. The ARC project addressed the challenges of enabling technologies, facilitating access, providing logistics and infrastructure, and capitalizing on international co-operation. Technological requirements include: i) innovative automated in situ observing systems, sensors and interoperable platforms (including power demands), ii) realistic and holistic numerical models, iii) enhanced remote sensing and sensors, iv) expanded sample collection and retrieval technologies, and v) greater cyber-infrastructure to process 'big data' collection, transmission and analyses while promoting data accessibility. These technologies must be widely available, performance and reliability must be improved and technologies used elsewhere must be applied to the Antarctic. Considerable Antarctic research is field-based, making access to vital geographical targets essential. Future research will require continent- and ocean-wide environmentally responsible access to coastal and interior Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. Year-round access is indispensable. The cost of future Antarctic science is great but there are opportunities for all to participate commensurate with national resources, expertise and interests. The scope of future Antarctic research will necessitate enhanced and inventive interdisciplinary and international collaborations. The full promise of Antarctic science will only be realized if nations act together.
|
|
| 3. |
- Wei, W., et al.
(författare)
-
Getz Ice Shelf melt enhanced by freshwater discharge from beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Cryosphere. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1994-0416. ; 14:4, s. 1399-1408
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Antarctica's Getz Ice Shelf has been rapidly thinning in recent years, producing more meltwater than any other ice shelf in the world. The influx of fresh water is known to substantially influence ocean circulation and biological productivity, but relatively little is known about the factors controlling basal melt rate or how basal melt is spatially distributed beneath the ice shelf. Also unknown is the relative importance of subglacial discharge from the grounded ice sheet in contributing to the export of fresh water from the ice shelf cavity. Here we compare the observed spatial distribution of basal melt rate to a new sub-ice-shelf bathymetry map inferred from airborne gravity surveys and to locations of subglacial discharge from the grounded ice sheet. We find that melt rates are high where bathymetric troughs provide a pathway for warm Circumpolar Deep Water to enter the ice shelf cavity and that melting is enhanced where subglacial discharge fresh water flows across the grounding line. This is the first study to address the relative importance of meltwater production of the Getz Ice Shelf from both ocean and subglacial sources.
|
|
| 4. |
- Witus, Alexandra E., et al.
(författare)
-
Meltwater intensive glacial retreat in polar environments and investigation of associated sediments : example from Pine Island Bay, West Antarctica
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Quaternary Science Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 0277-3791 .- 1873-457X. ; 85, s. 99-118
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Modern Pine Island and Thwaites Glaciers, which both drain into Pine Island Bay, are among the fastest changing portions of the cryosphere and the least stable ice streams in Antarctica. Here we show that the uppermost sediment unit in Pine Island Bay was deposited from a meltwater plume, a plumite, during the late stages of ice sheet retreat similar to 7-8.6 k cal yr BP and argue that this deposit records episodes of meltwater intensive sedimentation. The plumite is a hydraulically sorted, glacially sourced, draping deposit that overlies proximal glaci-marine sediments and thickens towards the modern grounding line. The uppermost sediment unit is interpreted as a product of non-steady-state processes in which low background sedimentation in large bedrock-carved basins alternates with episodic purging of sediment-laden water from these basins. The inner part of Pine Island Bay contains several basins that are linked by channels with a storage capacity on the order of 70 km(3) of stagnant water and significant sediment storage capacity. Purging of these basins is caused by changes in hydraulic potential and glacial reorganization. The sediment mobilized by these processes is found here to total 120 km3. This study demonstrates that episodes of meltwater-intensive sedimentation in Pine Island Bay occurred at least three times in the Holocene. The most recent episode coincides with rapid retreat of the grounding line in historical time and has an order of magnitude greater flux relative to the entire unit. We note that the final phase of ice stream retreat in Marguerite Bay was marked by a similar sedimentary event and suggest that the modern Thwaites Glacier is poised for an analogous meltwater-intensive phase of retreat.
|
|
