Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T00:09:49.643Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The sediment infill of subglacial meltwater channels on the West Antarctic continental shelf

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

James A. Smith ,
Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand ,
Robert D. Larter ,
Alastair G.C. Graham  and
Gerhard Kuhn
James A. Smith*
Affiliation:
British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK
Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand
Affiliation:
British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK
Robert D. Larter
Affiliation:
British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK
Alastair G.C. Graham
Affiliation:
British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK
Gerhard Kuhn
Affiliation:
Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Am Alten Hafen, D-27568 Bremerhaven, Germany
*
⁎Corresponding author. Fax: +44 1223221646. Email Address:[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Subglacial meltwater plays a significant yet poorly understood role in the dynamics of the Antarctic ice sheets. Here we present new swath bathymetry from the western Amundsen Sea Embayment, West Antarctica, showing meltwater channels eroded into acoustic basement. Their morphological characteristics and size are consistent with incision by subglacial meltwater. To understand how and when these channels formed we have investigated the infill of three channels. Diamictons deposited beneath or proximal to an expanded grounded West Antarctic Ice Sheet are present in two of the channels and these are overlain by glaciomarine sediments deposited after deglaciation. The sediment core from the third channel recovered a turbidite sequence also deposited after the last deglaciation. The presence of deformation till at one core site and the absence of typical meltwater deposits (e.g., sorted sands and gravels) in all three cores suggest that channel incision pre-dates overriding by fast flowing grounded ice during the last glacial period. Given the overall scale of the channels and their incision into bedrock, it is likely that the channels formed over multiple glaciations, possibly since the Miocene, and have been reoccupied on several occasions. This also implies that the channels have survived numerous advances and retreats of grounded ice.

Keywords

Subglacial meltwaterTunnel valleysSediment infillSubglacial lakesAntarctica
Type
Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 71 , Issue 2 , March 2009 , pp. 190 - 200
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alley, R.B. Water-pressure coupling of sliding and bed deformation: I. Water system. J. Glaciol. 35, (1989). 108–118.Google Scholar
Alley, R.B., Dupont, T.K., Parizek, B.R., Anandakrishnan, S., Lawson, D.E., Larson, G.J., and Evenson, E.B. Outburst flooding and the initiation of ice-stream surges in response to climate cooling: a hypothesis. Geomorphology 75, (2006). 76–89. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2004.01.011 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alonso, B., Anderson, J.B., Díaz, J.I., and Bartek, L.R. Pliocene–Pleistocene seismic stratigraphy of the Ross Sea: evidence for multiple ice sheet grounding episodes. Elliot, D.H. Contributions to Antarctic Research III. Antarct. Res. Ser. 57, (1992). 93–103.Google Scholar
Anderson, J.B. Antarctic Marine Geology. (1999). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 289 Google Scholar
Anderson, J.B., Shipp, S.S., Lowe, A.L., Wellner, J.S., and Mosola, A.B. The Antarctic Ice Sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum and its subsequent retreat history: a review. Quat. Sci. Rev. 21, (2002). 49–70.Google Scholar
Bartek, L.R., and Anderson, J.B. Facies distribution resulting from sedimentation under polar interglacial climatic conditions within a high-latitude marginal basin, McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Spec. Pap. — Geol. Soc. Am. 261, (1991). 27–49.Google Scholar
Behrendt, J.C., Finn, C.A., Blankenship, D.D., and Bell, R.E. Aeromagnetic evidence for a volcanic caldera complex beneath the divide of the West Antarctic ice sheet. Geophys. Res. Lett. 25, (1998). 4385–4388.Google Scholar
Bell, R.E., Studinger, M., Shuman, C.A., Fahnestock, M.A., and Joughin, I. Large subglacial lakes in East Antarctica at the onset of fast-flowing ice streams. Nature 445, (2007). 904–907. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature05554 Google Scholar
Benn, D.I., and Evans, D.J.A. Glaciers and Glaciation. (1998). Arnold, London. 734 Google Scholar
Blankenship, D.D., Bell, R.E., Hodge, S.M., Brozena, J.M., Behrendt, J.C., and Finn, C.A. Active volcanism beneath the West Antarctic ice sheet and implications for ice-sheet stability. Nature 361, (1993). 526–529.Google Scholar
Booth, D.B., and Hallet, B. Channel networks carved by subglacial water: observations and reconstruction in the eastern Puget Lowland of Washington. Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull. 105, (1993). 671–683.Google Scholar
Boulton, G.S., and Hindmarsh, R.C.A. Sediment deformation beneath glaciers: rheology and geological consequences. J. Geophys. Res. 92, (1987). 9059–9082.Google Scholar
Caress, D.W., Spitzak, S.E., and Chayes, D.N. Software for multibeam sonars. Sea Technol. 37, (1996). 54–57.Google Scholar
Carlson, A.E., Jenson, J.W., and Clark, P.U. Modeling the subglacial hydrology of the James Lobe of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Quat. Sci. Rev. 26, (2007). 1384–1397. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2007.02.002 Google Scholar
Clarke, G.K.C., Leverington, D.W., Teller, J.T., Dyke, A.S., and Marhsall, S.J. Fresh arguments against the Shaw megaflood hypothesis. A reply to comments by David Sharpe on “Paleohydraulics of the last outburst flood from glacial Lake Agassiz and the 8200 BP cold event”. Quat. Sci. Rev. 24, (2005). 1533–1541.Google Scholar
Corr, H.F.J., and Vaughan, D.G. A recent volcanic eruption beneath the West Antarctic ice sheet. Nat. Geosci. 1, (2008). 122–125. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ngeo106 Google Scholar
Cutler, P.M., Colgan, P.M., and Mickelson, D.M. Sedimentologic evidence for outburst floods from the Laurentide Ice Sheet margin in Wisconsin, USA: implications for tunnel-channel formation. Quat. Int. 90, (2002). 23–40.Google Scholar
Denton, G.H., and Sugden, D.E. Meltwater features that suggest Miocene ice-sheet overriding of the Transantarctic Mountains in Victoria Land, Antarctica. Geogr. Ann. 87A, (2005). 67–85.Google Scholar
Domack, E.W., and McClennen, C.E. Accumulation of glacial marine sediments in fjords of the Antarctic Peninsula and their use as late Holocene paleoenvironmental indicators. Ross, R., Hoffman, E., Quetin, L. Foundations for Ecosystem Research West of the Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctic Research Series vol. 70, (1996). American Geophysical Union, Washington D.C.. 135–154.Google Scholar
Domack, E.W., Jacobson, E.A., Shipp, S., and Anderson, J.B. Late Pleistocene–Holocene retreat of the West Antarctic Ice-Sheet system in the Ross Sea: Part 2. Sedimentologic and stratigraphic signature. Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull. 111, (1999). 1517–1536.Google Scholar
Domack, E., Amblas, D., Gilbert, R., Brachfeld, S., Camerlenghi, A., Rebessco, M., and Canals, M. Subglacial morphology and glacial evolution of the Palmer Deep outlet system, Antarctic Peninsula. Geomorphology 75, (2006). 125–142.Google Scholar
Ehlers, J., and Linke, G. The origin of deep buried channels of Elsterian age in NW Germany. J. Quat. Sci. 4, (1989). 255–265.Google Scholar
Engelhardt, H., and Kamb, B. Basal hydraulic system of a West Antarctic ice stream: constraints from borehole observations. J. Glaciol. 43, (1997). 207–230.Google Scholar
Engelhardt, H., Humphrey, N., Kamb, B., and Fahnestock, M. Physical conditions at the base of a fast moving Antarctic ice stream. Science 248, (1990). 57–59.Google Scholar
Evans, D.J.A., Owen, L.A., and Roberts, D. Stratigraphy and sedimentology of Devensian (Dimlington Stadial) glacial deposits, east Yorkshire, England. J. Quat. Sci. 10, (1995). 241–265.Google Scholar
Evans, D.J.A., Rea, B.R., Hiemstra, J.F., and Ó Cofaigh, C. A critical assessment of subglacial mega-floods: a case study of glacial sediments and landforms in south-central Alberta, Canada. Quat. Sci. Rev. 25, (2006). 1638–1667.Google Scholar
Evans, J., Dowdeswell, J.A., Ó Cofaigh, C., Benham, T.J., and Anderson, J.B. Extent and dynamics of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet on the outer continental shelf of Pine Island Bay during the last glaciation. Mar. Geol. 230, (2006). 53–72.Google Scholar
Eyles, N., and de Broekert, P. Glacial tunnel valleys in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia cut below the Late Paleozoic Pilbara ice sheet. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 171, (2001). 29–40.Google Scholar
Eyles, N., and McCabe, A.M. Glaciomarine facies within subglacial tunnel valleys—the sedimentary record of glacioisostatic downwarping in the Irish Sea Basin. Sedimentology 36, (1989). 431–448.Google Scholar
Eyles, N., Sladen, J.A., and Gilroy, S. A depositional model for stratigraphic complexes and facies superimposition in lodgement tills. Boreas 11, (1982). 317–333.Google Scholar
Fisher, T.G., and Taylor, L.D. Sedimentary and stratigraphic evidence for subglacial flooding, south-central Michigan, USA. Quat. Int. 90, (2002). 87–115.Google Scholar
Fricker, H.A., Scambos, T., Bindschadler, R., and Padman, L. An active subglacial water system in West Antarctica mapped from space. Science 315, (2007). 1544–1548. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1136897 Google Scholar
Goodwin, I.D. The nature and origin of a jökulhlaup near Casey Station, Antarctica. J. Glaciol. 34, 116 (1988). 95–101.Google Scholar
Gray, L., Joughin, I., Tulaczyk, S., Spikes, V.B., Bindschadler, R., and Jezek, K. Evidence for subglacial water transport in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet through three-dimensional satellite radar interferometry. Geophys. Res. Lett. 32, (2005). L03501 http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2004GL021387 Google Scholar
Hillenbrand, C.-D., Grobe, H., Diekmann, B., Kuhn, G., and Futterer, D. Modern glaciomarine environment and its sedimentary record in the Bellingshausen and Amundsen Seas (West Antarctica). Mar. Geol. 193, (2003). 253–271.Google Scholar
Hillenbrand, C.-D., Baesler, T.A., and Grobe, H. The sedimentary record of the last glaciation in the western Bellingshausen Sea (West Antarctica): implications for the interpretation of diamictons in a polar-marine setting. Mar. Geol. 216, (2005). 191–204. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2005.01.007 Google Scholar
Huuse, M., and Lykke-Andersen, H. Overdeepened Quaternary valleys in the eastern Danish North Sea: morphology and origin. Quat. Sci. Rev. 19, (2000). 1233–1253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jørgensen, F., and Sandersen, P.B.E. Buried and open tunnel valleys in Denmark — erosion beneath multiple ice sheets. Quat. Sci. Rev. 25, (2006). 1339–1363. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2005.11.006 Google Scholar
Kamb, B. Basal zone of the West Antarctic ice streams and its role in lubrication of their rapid motion. Alley, R.B., and Bindschadler, R.A. The West Antarctic Ice Sheet: Behavior and Environment. American Geophysical Union, Antarct. Res. Ser. vol. 77, (2001). 157–199.Google Scholar
Kellogg, T.B., and Kellogg, D.E. Recent glacial history and rapid ice stream retreat in the Amundsen Sea. J. Geophys. Res. 92, (1987). 8859–8864.Google Scholar
King, E.C., Woodward, J., and Smith, A.M. Seismic evidence for a water-filled canal in deforming till beneath Rutford Ice Stream, West Antarctica. Geophys. Res. Lett. 31, (2004). L20401 http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2004GL020379 Google Scholar
Kluiving, S.J., Bosch, J.H.A., Ebbing, J.H.J., Mesdag, C.S., and Westerhoff, R.S. Onshore and offshore seismic and lithostratigraphic analysis of a deeply incised Quaternary buried valley-system in the Northern Netherlands. J. Appl. Geophys. 53, (2003). 249–271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larter, R.D., Gohl, K., Hillenbrand, C.-D., Kuhn, G., Deen, T.J., Dietrich, R., Eagles, G., Johnson, J.S., Livermore, R.A., Nitsche, F.O., Pudsey, C.J., Schenke, H.-W., Smith, J.A., Udintsev, G., and Uenzelmann-Neben, G. West Antarctic Ice Sheet change since the Last Glacial Period. EOS Transact., American Geophysical Union 88, (2007). 189–190.Google Scholar
Larter, R.D., Graham, A.G.C., Gohl, K., Kuhn, G., Hillenbrand, C.-D., Smith, J.A., Deen, T.J., Livermore, R.A., Schenke, H.-W., in press. Subglacial bedforms reveal complex basal regime in a zone of paleo-ice stream convergence, Amundsen Sea Embayment, West Antarctica. Geology.Google Scholar
Lewis, A.R., Marchant, D.R., Kowalewski, D.E., Baldwin, S.L., and Webb, L.E. The age and origin of the Labyrinth, western Dry Valleys, Antarctica: evidence for extensive middle Miocene subglacial floods and freshwater discharge to the Southern Ocean. Geology 34, (2006). 513–516. http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G22145.1 Google Scholar
Li, B., Yoon, H.-I., and Park, B.-K. Foraminiferal assemblages and CaCO3 dissolution since the last deglaciation in the Maxwell Bay, King George Island, Antarctica. Mar. Geol. 169, (2000). 239–257.Google Scholar
Licht, K.J., Dunbar, N.W., Andrews, J.T., and Jennings, A.E. Distinguishing subglacial till and glacial marine diamictons in the western Ross Sea, Antarctica: implications for a Last Glacial Maximum grounding line. Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull., 111, (1999). 91–103.Google Scholar
Lonergan, L., Maidment, S.C.R., and Collier, J.S. Pleistocene subglacial tunnel valleys in the central North Sea basin: 3-D morphology and evolution. J. Quat. Sci. 21, (2006). 891–903.Google Scholar
Lowe, D.R. Sediment gravity flows: II — depositional models with special reference to the deposits of high density turbidity currents. J. Sediment. Petrol. 41, (1982). 168–186.Google Scholar
Lowe, A.L., and Anderson, J.B. Reconstruction of the West Antarctic ice sheet in Pine Island Bay during the Last Glacial maximum and its subsequent retreat history. Quat. Sci. Rev. 21, (2002). 1879–1897.Google Scholar
Lowe, A.L., and Anderson, J.B. Evidence for abundant subglacial meltwater beneath the paleo-ice sheet in Pine Island Bay, Antarctica. J. Glaciol. 49, (2003). 125–138.Google Scholar
Murray, T., Corr, H., Forieri, A., and Smith, A.M. Contrasts in hydrology between regions of basal deformation and sliding beneath Rutford Ice Stream, West Antarctica, mapped using radar and seismic data. Geophys. Res. Lett. 35, (2008). L12504 http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2008GL033681 Google Scholar
Ng, F.S.G. Canals under sediment-based ice sheets. Ann. Glaciol. 30, (2000). 146–152.Google Scholar
Nitsche, F.O., Jacobs, S.S., Larter, R.D., and Gohl, K. Bathymetry of the Amundsen Sea continental shelf: implications for geology, oceanography, and glaciology. Geochem., Geophys., Geosystems, 8, (2007). Q10009 http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2007GC001694 Google Scholar
Ó Cofaigh, C. Tunnel valley genesis. Prog. Phys. Geogr. 20, (1996). 1–19.Google Scholar
Ó Cofaigh, C., Pudsey, C.J., Dowdeswell, J.A., and Morris, P. Evolution of subglacial bedforms along a paleo-ice stream, Antarctic Peninsula continental shelf. Geophys. Res. Lett. 29, (2002). 41–1–41-4. http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2001.GL014488 Google Scholar
Ó Cofaigh, C., Dowdeswell, J.A., Allen, C.S., Heimstra, J.F., Pudsey, C.J., Evans, J., and Evans, D.J.A. Flow dynamics and till genesis associated with marine based Antarctic palaeo-ice streams. Quat. Sci. Rev. 24, (2005). 709–740.Google Scholar
Piotrowski, J.A. Tunnel-valley formation in Northwest Germany — geology, mechanisms of formation and subglacial bed conditions for the bornhoved tunnel valley. Sediment. Geol. 89, (1994). 107–141.Google Scholar
Rignot, E.J. Fast recession of a West Antarctic Glacier. Science 281, (1998). 549–551.Google Scholar
Sawagaki, T., and Hirakawa, K. Erosion of bedrock by subglacial meltwater, Soya Coast, East Antarctica. Geogr. Ann. 79, (1997). 223–238.Google Scholar
Shaw, J. Glacial sedimentary processes and environmental reconstruction based on lithofacies. Sedimentology 34, (1987). 103–116.Google Scholar
Shepherd, A., Wingham, D., and Rignot, E. Warm ocean is eroding West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Geophys. Res. Lett. 31, (2004). L23402 Google Scholar
Siegert, M.J., Carter, S., Tabacco, I.E., Popov, S., and Blankenship, D.D. A revised inventory of Antarctic subglacial lakes. Antarct. Sci. 17, (2005). 453–460.Google Scholar
Siegert, M.J., Le Brocq, A., and Payne, A. Hydrological connections between Antarctic subglacial lakes and the flow of water beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. Hambrey, M.J., Christoffersen, P., Glasser, N.F., and Hubbard, B.P. Glacial Sedimentary Processes and Special Publication #39. International Association of Sedimentologists. (2007). 3–10.Google Scholar
Smith, L. Stratigraphic evidence for multiple drainings of glacial Lake Missoula along the Clark Fork River, Montana, USA. Quat. Res. 66, (2006). 311–322.Google Scholar
Smith, A.M., Murray, T., Nicholls, K.W., Makinson, K., Aðalgeirsdóttir, G., Behar, A.E., and Vaughan, D.G. Rapid erosion, drumlin formation, and changing hydrology beneath an Antarctic ice stream. Geology 35, (2007). 127–130. http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G23036A.1 Google Scholar
Snorrason, Á., Jónsson, P., Pálsson, S., Árnason, S., Sigurðsson, O., Víkingsson, S., Sigurðsson, Á., and Zóphóníasson, S. Hlaupið á Skeiðarársandi haustið 1996. Útbreiðsla, rennsli og aurburður. Haraldsson, H. Vatnajökull. Gos og hlaup 1996. (1997). Iceland Public Roads Administration, Reykjavík, Iceland. 79–137.Google Scholar
Sugden, D.E., Denton, G.H., and Marchant, D.R. Sub-glacial meltwater channel systems and ice sheet overriding, Asgard Range, Antarctica. Geogr. Ann. 73, (1991). 109–121.Google Scholar
Sugden, D.E., Summerfield, M.A., Denton, G.H., Wilch, T.I., McIntosh, W.C., Marchant, D.R., and Rutford, R.H. Landscape development in the Royal Society Range, southern Victoria Land, Antarctica: stability since the mid-Miocene. Geomorphology 28, (1999). 181–200.Google Scholar
Walder, J.S., and Fowler, A. Channelised subglacial drainage over a deformable bed. J. Glaciol. 40, (1994). 3–15.Google Scholar
Wellner, J.S., Lowe, A.L., Shipp, S.S., and Anderson, J.B. Distribution of glacial geomorphic features on the Antarctic continental shelf and correlation with substrate: implications for ice behaviour. J. Glaciol. 47, (2001). 397–411.Google Scholar
Wellner, J.S., Heroy, D.C., and Anderson, J.B. The death mask of the Antarctic ice sheet: comparison of glacial geomorphic features across the continental shelf. Geomorphology 75, (2006). 157–171.Google Scholar
Werner, R., Daniel, K., Hauff, F., and Veit, A. Composition and evolution of Cenozoic volcanic complexes and the crystalline basement of Marie Byrd and Ellsworth Land. Gohl, K. The Expedition ANTARKTIS-XXIII/4 of the Research Vessel ‘Polarstern’ in 2006. Reports of Polar and Marine Research, 557. (2007). Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven. 67–83.Google Scholar
Wessel, P., and Smith, W.H.F. Free software helps map and display data. EOS Transact., American Geophysical Union 72, (1991). 445–446.Google Scholar
Winberry, J.P., and Anandakrishnan, S. Crustal structure of the West Antarctic rift system and Marie Byrd Land hotspot. Geology 32, (2004). 977–980.Google Scholar
Wingham, D.J., Siegert, M.J., Shepherd, A., and Muir, A.S. Rapid discharge connects Antarctic subglacial lakes. Nature 440, (2006). 1033–1036.Google Scholar