scholarly journals New large subglacial lake in Princess Elizabeth Land, East Antarctica, detected by airborne geophysical observations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Li ◽  
Aiguo Zhao ◽  
Tiantian Feng ◽  
Xiangbin Cui ◽  
Lu An ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ground Truth ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Gravity Modeling ◽  
Lake Vostok ◽  
Subglacial Lake ◽  
Innovative Method ◽  
Abstract Knowledge ◽  
Subglacial Lakes ◽  
Global Sea Level ◽  
The Stability

Abstract. Knowledge of subglacial lakes is important for understanding the stability of the Antarctica Ice Sheet (AIS) and its contribution to the global sea-level change. We designed an intensified airborne campaign to collect geophysical data in Princess Elizabeth Land (PEL), East Antarctica, during the 2015–2019 CHINARE expeditions. We developed an innovative method to build a set of evidence of a newly detected subglacial lake, Lake Zhongshan. Adaptive RES data analysis allowed us to detect the lake surface and extent. We quantified the lake depth and volume via gravity modeling. Another dataset collected at Lake Vostok provided the ground truth. The results revealed that Lake Zhongshan, located at 73°26'53"S, 80°30'39"E and ~3,603 m below surface, has an area of 328 ± 1 km2, making it the only one in PEL and the fifth largest in Antarctica. These findings are important for understanding subglacial hydrodynamics in PEL, as well as the stability of the AIS.

scholarly journals Forty-seven new subglacial lakes in the 0–110° E sector of East Antarctica

2007 ◽  
Vol 53 (181) ◽  
pp. 289-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergey V. Popov ◽  
Valery N. Masolov
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Scientific Work ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Lake Area ◽  
Geothermal Heat ◽  
Subglacial Lake ◽  
Deep Faults ◽  
Radio Echo Sounding ◽  
Subglacial Lakes ◽  
Echo Sounding

AbstractDuring the summer field seasons of 1987–91, studies of central East Antarctica by airborne radio-echo sounding commenced. This scientific work continued in the 1990s in the Vostok Subglacial Lake area and along the traverse route from Mirny, and led to the discovery of 16 new subglacial water cavities in the areas of Domes Fuji and Argus and the Prince Charles Mountains. Twenty-nine subglacial water cavities were revealed in the area near Vostok, along with a feature we believe to be a subglacial river. Two subglacial lakes were discovered along the Mirny–Vostok traverse route. These are located 50 km north of Komsomolskaya station and under Pionerskaya station. We find high geothermal heat flux in the vicinity of the largest of the subglacial lakes, and suggest this may be due to their location over deep faults where additional mantle heat is available.

scholarly journals A revised inventory of Antarctic subglacial lakes

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 453-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARTIN J. SIEGERT ◽  
SASHA CARTER ◽  
IGNAZIO TABACCO ◽  
SERGEY POPOV ◽  
DONALD D. BLANKENSHIP
Keyword(s):  
East Antarctica ◽  
Large Lake ◽  
Dome A ◽  
Lake Vostok ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Us ◽  
Radio Echo Sounding ◽  
Subglacial Lakes ◽  
Lake Type ◽  
Echo Sounding

The locations and details of 145 Antarctic subglacial lakes are presented. The inventory is based on a former catalogue of lake-type features, which has been subsequently reanalysed, and on the results from three additional datasets. The first is from Italian radio-echo sounding (RES) of the Dome C region of East Antarctica, from which 14 new lakes are identified. These data also show that, in a number of occasions, multiple lake-type reflectors thought previously to be individual lakes are in fact reflections from the same relatively large lake. This reduces the former total of lake-type reflectors by six, but also adds a significant level of information to these particular lakes. The second dataset is from a Russian survey of the Dome A and Dome F regions of East Antarctica, which provides evidence of 18 new lakes and extends the coverage of the inventory considerably. The third dataset comprises three airborne RES surveys undertaken by the US in East Antarctica over the last five years, from which forty three new lakes have been identified. Reference to information on Lake Vostok, from Italian and US surveys taken in the last few years, is now included.

scholarly journals Antarctic subglacial lake exploration: first results and future plans

2016 ◽  
Vol 374 (2059) ◽  
pp. 20140466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin J. Siegert ◽  
John C. Priscu ◽  
Irina A. Alekhina ◽  
Jemma L. Wadham ◽  
W. Berry Lyons
Keyword(s):  
Lake Water ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Microbial Life ◽  
Lake Vostok ◽  
Subglacial Lake ◽  
Coastal Margin ◽  
First Results ◽  
Scientific Results ◽  
Subglacial Lakes

After more than a decade of planning, three attempts were made in 2012–2013 to access, measure in situ properties and directly sample subglacial Antarctic lake environments. First, Russian scientists drilled into the top of Lake Vostok, allowing lake water to infiltrate, and freeze within, the lower part of the ice-core borehole, from which further coring would recover a frozen sample of surface lake water. Second, UK engineers tried unsuccessfully to deploy a clean-access hot-water drill, to sample the water column and sediments of subglacial Lake Ellsworth. Third, a US mission successfully drilled cleanly into subglacial Lake Whillans, a shallow hydraulically active lake at the coastal margin of West Antarctica, obtaining samples that would later be used to prove the existence of microbial life and active biogeochemical cycling beneath the ice sheet. This article summarizes the results of these programmes in terms of the scientific results obtained, the operational knowledge gained and the engineering challenges revealed, to collate what is known about Antarctic subglacial environments and how to explore them in future. While results from Lake Whillans testify to subglacial lakes as being viable biological habitats, the engineering challenges to explore deeper more isolated lakes where unique microorganisms and climate records may be found, as exemplified in the Lake Ellsworth and Vostok missions, are considerable. Through international cooperation, and by using equipment and knowledge of the existing subglacial lake exploration programmes, it is possible that such environments could be explored thoroughly, and at numerous sites, in the near future.

The bottom topography and subglacial Lake Vostok water body, East Antarctica

2010 ◽  
Vol 433 (2) ◽  
pp. 1092-1097 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. N. Masolov ◽  
S. V. Popov ◽  
V. V. Lukin ◽  
A. M. Popkov
Keyword(s):  
Water Body ◽  
Bottom Topography ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Lake Vostok ◽  
Subglacial Lake

scholarly journals Possible groundwater dominance in the subglacial hydrology of ice sheet interiors: example at Dome C, East Antarctica

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brad T. Gooch ◽  
Sasha P. Carter ◽  
Omar Ghattas ◽  
Duncan A. Young ◽  
Donald D. Blankenship
Keyword(s):  
Groundwater Flow ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Sheet Thickness ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Path Model ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Subglacial Lake ◽  
Groundwater Flux ◽  
Groundwater Systems ◽  
Subglacial Lakes

Abstract. We hypothesize that groundwater systems may be the main water transport mechanism over (distributed, inefficient) water sheets at large scales in the interiors of ice sheets where melt rates are very low. We compare melt rate magnitudes to potential groundwater volume fluxes and also calculate the theoretical transmissivity ranges of subglacial water sheet and groundwater flow systems. Theoretical groundwater systems are on par with or are more transmissive than water sheets for the upper half of the permeability spectrum. In addition, we develop a 2D cross-sectional subglacial flow path model that connects subglacial lakes near Dome C, East Antarctica. This model integrates subglacial water sheet flux and hypothetical groundwater flow forcing, better bridging two historically disparate modeling frameworks – subglacial hydrology and ice sheet hydrogeology. Our model results suggest that the water sheet thickness can be highly dependent on groundwater flux and that the water sheet transmissivity is within the total range of the modeled groundwater system transmissivity. We infer from these results that subglacial lake stability and basal radar reflections underneath the interior of East Antarctica may possibly be affected by groundwater flow.

scholarly journals Potential technological solution for sampling the bottom sediments of the subglacial lake Vostok: relevance and formulation of investigation goals

2021 ◽  
Vol 252 ◽  
pp. 779-787
Author(s):  
Aleksey Bolshunov ◽  
Nikolay Vasiliev ◽  
Igor Timofeev ◽  
Sergey Ignatiev ◽  
Dmitriy Vasiliev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Safety ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Natural Phenomenon ◽  
Bottom Surface ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Lake Vostok ◽  
Subglacial Lake ◽  
Vostok Station ◽  
Environmentally Safe ◽  
Subglacial Lakes

The subglacial Lake Vostok in Antarctic is a unique natural phenomenon, its comprehensive study involves sampling of water and bottom surface rocks. For further study of the lake, it is necessary to drill a new access well and develop environmentally safe technologies for its exploration. This article discusses existing and potential technologies for sampling bottom surface rocks of subglacial lakes. All these technologies meet environmental safety requirements and are conducive for sampling. The authors have proposed an alternative technology, using a walking device, which, due to its mobility, enables selective sampling of rocks across a large area from a single access well. The principal issues, related to the implementation of the proposed technology, are investigated within this article. This report is prepared by a team of specialists with many years of experience in drilling at the Vostok Station in Antarctic and in experimental work on the design of equipment and non-standard means of mechanization for complicated mining, geological and climatic conditions.

scholarly journals Height changes over subglacial Lake Vostok, East Antarctica: Insights from GNSS observations

2014 ◽  
Vol 119 (11) ◽  
pp. 2460-2480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Richter ◽  
Sergey V. Popov ◽  
Mathias Fritsche ◽  
Valery V. Lukin ◽  
Alexey Yu. Matveev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
East Antarctica ◽  
Lake Vostok ◽  
Subglacial Lake ◽  
Gnss Observations

scholarly journals Basal melting over Subglacial Lake Ellsworth and its catchment: insights from englacial layering

2020 ◽  
Vol 61 (81) ◽  
pp. 198-205
Author(s):  
Neil Ross ◽  
Martin Siegert
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
West Antarctica ◽  
Microbial Life ◽  
Lake Vostok ◽  
Subglacial Lake ◽  
Lake Outlet ◽  
Hydrological System ◽  
Subglacial Lakes ◽  
Basal Melting ◽  
Insight Into

AbstractDeep-water ‘stable’ subglacial lakes likely contain microbial life adapted in isolation to extreme environmental conditions. How water is supplied into a subglacial lake, and how water outflows, is important for understanding these conditions. Isochronal radio-echo layers have been used to infer where melting occurs above Lake Vostok and Lake Concordia in East Antarctica but have not been used more widely. We examine englacial layers above and around Lake Ellsworth, West Antarctica, to establish where the ice sheet is ‘drawn down’ towards the bed and, thus, experiences melting. Layer drawdown is focused over and around the northwest parts of the lake as ice, flowing obliquely to the lake axis becomes afloat. Drawdown can be explained by a combination of basal melting and the Weertman effect, at the transition from grounded to floating ice. We evaluate the importance of these processes on englacial layering over Lake Ellsworth and discuss implications for water circulation and sediment deposition. We report evidence of a second subglacial lake near the head of the hydrological catchment and present a new high-resolution bed DEM and hydropotential model of the lake outlet zone. These observations provide insight into the connectivity between Lake Ellsworth and the wider subglacial hydrological system.

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