Evidence for abundant subglacial meltwater beneath the paleo-ice sheet in Pine Island Bay, Antarctica

Lowe, Ashley L; Anderson, John B.

doi:10.3189/172756503781830971

Cited by 152 publications

(191 citation statements)

References 82 publications

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“…Those zones defined by Anderson (2002, 2003) are seafloor geomorphic zones. Lowe and Anderson (2002, th Lowe and Anderson, 2003), which offers a possibility to correlate structures observed in our seismic data with the geomorphic zones. We hence extend their northern boundary Z3/Z4 further to the east (Fig.…”

Section: Observations and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in ice retreat across Pine Island Bay, West Antarctica, since the Last Glacial Maximum: Indications from multichannel seismic reflection data

et al. 2007

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An understanding of the glacial history of Pine Island Bay (PIB) is essential for refining models of the future stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). New multichannel seismic reflection data from inner PIB are interpreted in context of previously published reconstructions for the retreat history in this area since the Last Glacial Maximum. Differences in the behavior of the ice sheet during deglaciation are shown to exist for the western and eastern parts of PIB. While we can identify only a thin veneer of sedimentary deposits in western PIB, eastern PIB shows sedimentary layers ≤ 400 msTWT. This is interpreted as a result of differences in ice retreat: a fast ice retreat in western PIB accompanied by rapid basal melting led to production of large meltwater streams, a slower ice retreat in eastern PIB is most probably the result of smaller drainage basins resulting in less meltwater production.

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Section: Observations and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in ice retreat across Pine Island Bay, West Antarctica, since the Last Glacial Maximum: Indications from multichannel seismic reflection data

et al. 2007

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“…6B,C). We interpret these features as tunnel valleys formed beneath an ice sheet or icesheet margin during multiple subglacial meltwater discharge events, or modified by constant, steady-state meltwater erosion over successive glacial phases (Ó Cofaigh, 1996;Lowe and Anderson, 2003;Lonergan et al, 2006;). …”

Section: Getz B Troughmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…12A), formed exclusively in bedrock. Subglacial meltwater channels need not necessarily relate to recent phases of glaciation (Lowe and Anderson, 2003;, and thus may be the oldest landsystem on the sea floor, recording inheritance in the ice sheet bed. Several studies show meltwater channels as relict features in bedrock (e.g.…”

Section: Landsystem 1 -Meltwater Flowmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bedform signature of a West Antarctic palaeo-ice stream reveals a multi-temporal record of flow and substrate control

Graham

Larter

Gohl

et al. 2009

Quaternary Science Reviews

175

173

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a b s t r a c tThe presence of a complex bedform arrangement on the sea floor of the continental shelf in the western Amundsen Sea Embayment, West Antarctica, indicates a multi-temporal record of flow related to the activity of one or more ice streams in the past. Mapping and division of the bedforms into distinct landform assemblages reveals their time-transgressive history, which implies that bedforms can neither be considered part of a single downflow continuum nor a direct proxy for palaeo-ice velocity, as suggested previously. A main control on the bedform imprint is the geology of the shelf, which is divided broadly between rough bedrock on the inner shelf, and smooth, dipping sedimentary strata on the middle to outer shelf. Inner shelf bedform variability is well preserved, revealing information about local, complex basal ice conditions, meltwater flow, and ice dynamics over time. These details, which are not apparent at the scale of regional morphological studies, indicate that past ice streams flowed across the entire shelf at times, and often had onset zones that lay within the interior of the Antarctic Ice Sheet today. In contrast, highly elongated subglacial bedforms on sedimentary strata of the middle to outer shelf represent a timeslice snapshot of the last activity of ice stream flow, and may be a truer representation of fast palaeo-ice flow in these locations. A revised model for ice streams on the shelf captures complicated multi-temporal bedform patterns associated with an Antarctic palaeo-ice stream for the first time, and confirms a strong substrate control on a major ice stream system that drained the West Antarctic Ice Sheet during the Late Quaternary.

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“…Palaeo-ice-stream beds have also allowed the mapping of the form, type and size of subglacial drainage networks, currently a major focus of research in contemporary glaciology. To this end, swath bathymetric mapping from cross-shelf bathymetric troughs in Antarctica has revealed extensive networks of meltwater channels and basins incised into crystalline bedrock [71,72]. Spectacular examples of relict subglacial meltwater features have been recorded, including tunnel channels over 20 km long and several kilometres wide [43,71].…”

Section: (B) Reconstruction Of Past Ice Sheets On High-and Mid-latitumentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To this end, swath bathymetric mapping from cross-shelf bathymetric troughs in Antarctica has revealed extensive networks of meltwater channels and basins incised into crystalline bedrock [71,72]. Spectacular examples of relict subglacial meltwater features have been recorded, including tunnel channels over 20 km long and several kilometres wide [43,71]. These features provide evidence for the transfer of substantial volumes of meltwater beneath former ice streams, although the assumption that such channels record bank-full conditions and erosion by catastrophic flows [72] may not be correct.…”

Section: (B) Reconstruction Of Past Ice Sheets On High-and Mid-latitumentioning

confidence: 99%

Ice sheets viewed from the ocean: the contribution of marine science to understanding modern and past ice sheets

Cofaigh

2012

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

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Over the last two decades, marine science, aided by technological advances in sediment coring, geophysical imaging and remotely operated submersibles, has played a major role in the investigation of contemporary and former ice sheets. Notable advances have been achieved with respect to reconstructing the extent and flow dynamics of the large polar ice sheets and their mid-latitude counterparts during the Quaternary from marine geophysical and geological records of landforms and sediments on glacierinfluenced continental margins. Investigations of the deep-sea ice-rafted debris record have demonstrated that catastrophic collapse of large (10 5 -10 6 km 2 ) ice-sheet drainage basins occurred on millennial and shorter time scales and had a major influence on oceanography. In the last few years, increasing emphasis has been placed on understanding physical processes at the ice-ocean interface, particularly at the grounding line, and on determining how these processes affect ice-sheet stability. This remains a major challenge, however, owing to the logistical constraints imposed by working in ice-infested polar waters and ice-shelf cavities. Furthermore, despite advances in reconstructing the Quaternary history of mid-and high-latitude ice sheets, major unanswered questions remain regarding West Antarctic ice-sheet stability, and the longterm offshore history of the East Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets remains poorly constrained. While these are major research frontiers in glaciology, and ones in which marine science has a pivotal role to play, realizing such future advances will require an integrated collaborative approach between oceanographers, glaciologists, marine geologists and numerical modellers.

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Evidence for abundant subglacial meltwater beneath the paleo-ice sheet in Pine Island Bay, Antarctica

Cited by 152 publications

References 82 publications

Differences in ice retreat across Pine Island Bay, West Antarctica, since the Last Glacial Maximum: Indications from multichannel seismic reflection data

Differences in ice retreat across Pine Island Bay, West Antarctica, since the Last Glacial Maximum: Indications from multichannel seismic reflection data

Bedform signature of a West Antarctic palaeo-ice stream reveals a multi-temporal record of flow and substrate control

Ice sheets viewed from the ocean: the contribution of marine science to understanding modern and past ice sheets

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