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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,
VOL. 28, NO. 18,
PAGES 3493–3496,
2001
Subglacial Sediments: A Regional Geological Template for Ice Flow in West Antarctica
Michael Studinger
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, New York
Robin E. Bell
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, New York
Donald D. Blankenship
Institute for Geophysics, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
Carol A. Finn
U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado
Robert A. Arko
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, New York
David L. Morse
Institute for Geophysics, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
Ian Joughin
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
Abstract
We use aerogeophysical data to estimate the distribution of marine subglacial sediments and fault-bounded sedimentary basins
beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). We find that significant ice flow occurs exclusively in regions covered by subglacial
sediments. The onsets and lateral margins of ice streams coincide with the limit of marine sediments. Lateral margins are
also consistently linked with fault-bounded basins. We predict that the inland migration of ice streams B and C 1 towards the ice divide outside the region covered by marine or rift sediments is unlikely. The subglacial geology has the
potential to modulate the dynamic evolution of the ice streams and the WAIS.
Received 16
May
2000;
accepted 29
June
2001.
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Citation: Studinger, M., R. E. Bell, D. D. Blankenship, C. A. Finn, R. A. Arko, D. L. Morse, and I. Joughin
(2001),
Subglacial Sediments: A Regional Geological Template for Ice Flow in West Antarctica,
Geophys. Res. Lett.,
28(18),
3493–3496.
Copyright 2001 by the American Geophysical Union.
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