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Subglacial sediments: A regional geological template for ice flow in West Antarctica
Lamont‐Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, New York
Lamont‐Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, New York
Institute for Geophysics, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado
Lamont‐Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, New York
Institute for Geophysics, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
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; .
Citation: (2001), Subglacial sediments: A regional geological template for ice flow in West Antarctica, Geophys. Res. Lett., 28(18), 3493–3496.
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