Poststagnation Retreat of Kamb Ice Stream's Grounding Zone

Details of Research

TitlePoststagnation Retreat of Kamb Ice Stream's Grounding ZoneAbstractDespite the importance of grounding zone sedimentation for ice sheet stability and ice sheet history, evidence for sedimentary deposits beneath West Antarctica's modern grounding zone remains sparse. Seismic surveying shows that Kamb Ice Stream has no detectable grounding zone deposit. As grounding zone deposition relies strongly on ice flow, the absence of a deposit suggests that the transition from the ice stream to the ice shelf has moved after stagnation of Kamb Ice Stream. Further support for a recent grounding zone occupation comes from satellite imagery of sub‐ice shelf channel features that likely originated at previous grounding‐zone locations. These features begin 25 km seaward of the current grounding zone and cut across ice flow streak lines. We estimate that retreat to the modern grounding‐zone position was abrupt at rates >0.2 km a−1. ©2017. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.Funding DetailsRES, Royal Economic Society; 10.13039/100000001, NSF, National Science Foundation; VUW1311, Royal Society of New Zealand; Antarctica New Zealand

Details

1st AuthorHorgan, H. AuthorHorgan, H.Hulbe, C.Alley, R.Anandakrishnan, S.Goodsell, B.Taylor-Offord, S.Vaughan, M.Year2017JournalGeophysical Research LettersVolume44Number19Pages9815-9822DOI10.1002/2017GL074986URLhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/recor.....7c7e89335729f0db896c8a22aPublisherBlackwell Publishing LtdKeywordsDepositsElectric groundingGlacial geologyGlaciersSatellite imagery, GlaciologyIce sheet dynamicsIce sheet historyIce shelvesKamb ice streamsSedimentary depositsStreaklinesWest antarctica, Ice, glacier retreatglaciologygrounding lineice flowice sheetice shelfsatellite imagerysedimentation, Antarctic Ice SheetAntarcticaKamb Ice StreamWest Antarctic Ice SheetWest Antarctica, rank5Author Keywordsglaciologygrounding zoneice sheet dynamics

Other

CitationHorgan, H., Hulbe, C., Alley, R., Anandakrishnan, S., Goodsell, B., Taylor-Offord, S. and Vaughan, M. (2017). Poststagnation Retreat of Kamb Ice Stream's Grounding Zone. Geophysical Research Letters, 44(19): 9815-9822Relevancerank5Antarctica NZ supported?YesNZARI?Yes