Subglacial topography and ice flux along the English Coast of Palmer Land, Antarctic Peninsula

Winter, Kate; Hill, Emily A.; Gudmundsson, G. Hilmar; Woodward, John

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-3453-2020

Articles | Volume 12, issue 4

https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-3453-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-3453-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 12, issue 4

Data description paper

|

17 Dec 2020

Data description paper |

| 17 Dec 2020

Subglacial topography and ice flux along the English Coast of Palmer Land, Antarctic Peninsula

Kate Winter, Emily A. Hill, G. Hilmar Gudmundsson, and John Woodward

Data sets

Airborne radio-echo sounding of the English Coast, western Palmer Land, Antarctic Peninsula (2016/17 season) Hugh Corr and Carl Robinson https://doi.org/10.5285/E07D62BF-D58C-4187-A019-59BE998939CC

MEaSUREs Phase-Based Antarctica Ice Velocity Map, Version 1 J. Mouginot, E. Rignot, and B. Scheuchl https://doi.org/10.5067/PZ3NJ5RXRH10

MEaSUREs BedMachine Antarctica, Version 1 M. Morlighem https://doi.org/10.5067/C2GFER6PTOS4

Short summary

Satellite measurements of the English Coast in the Antarctic Peninsula reveal that glaciers are thinning and losing mass, but ice thickness data are required to assess these changes, in terms of ice flux and sea level contribution. Our ice-penetrating radar measurements reveal that low-elevation subglacial channels control fast-flowing ice streams, which release over 39 Gt of ice per year to floating ice shelves. This topography could make ice flows susceptible to future instability.