Publication Date:
2023-07-12
Description:
The acquisition of a stratigraphically intact Antarctic ice column spanning the past 1.5 million years requires understanding of the thermal state of both the basal layer of the ice sheet and the underlying bed, which are influenced strongly by the coupled boundary conditions of geothermal heat flow and accumulation rate. However, geothermal heat flow, crustal structure, lithology, and other geological controls on thermal and hydraulic conductivity are poorly understood for likely ‘old ice’ regions of Antarctica. In the 2022/23 Antarctic field season, we collected over 20,000 line km of new airborne radar, magnetics, and gravity data over a poorly-surveyed region of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet between Dome A and the South Pole. We present updated maps of subglacial topography and ice thickness, as well as free-air and Bouguer anomaly grids, which can be used to make preliminary inferences about the crustal framework and basal thermal regime of the study area. These data, supplemented by existing geophysical observations, will inform further airborne and ground-based geophysical surveys and provide important context for ice flow models and selection of potential sites for old ice drilling operations.
Language:
English
Type:
info:eu-repo/semantics/conferenceObject
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