C53B-0304:
Active Lakes of the Recovery Ice Stream, East Antarctica: A Bedrock-Controlled Subglacial Hydrological System
Friday, 19 December 2014
Helen Amanda Fricker, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA, United States, Theodore A Scambos, Univ Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States, Robin E Bell, Lamont -Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, NY, United States and Sasha P Carter, University of California - San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States
Abstract:
A connected system of active sub-glacial lakes was revealed beneath the Recovery Ice Stream, East Antarctica by ICESat laser altimetry acquired from 2003 to 2008. Here we combine repeat-track analysis of ICESat (2003-2009), Operation IceBridge laser altimetry and radio-echo sounding (RES; 2011 and 2012), and MODIS image differencing (2009-2011) to learn more about the surface and bedrock topographic setting of the lakes and the constraints on water flow through the system. IceBridge data reveal a ~1500 m deep, ~1000 km long bedrock trough under the main trunk of Recovery Ice Stream. We extend the lake activity time series to 2012 for the three lower lakes using IceBridge data: one lake underwent a large deflation between 2009 and 2011; another lake, which had been continuously filling between 2003 and 2010, started to drain after 2011. Hydrologic connections among the lakes appear to be direct and responsive. We reproduce the lake activity using a simple subglacial water model. The hydrologic system beneath Recovery Ice Stream is controlled by unusually pronounced bedrock topography (and not ice surface topography, as is the case for most Antarctic systems studied to date). We discuss potential causes of non-steady hydrologic behavior in major Antarctic catchments.
