Print Email Facebook Twitter Observations of Buried Lake Drainage on the Antarctic Ice Sheet Title Observations of Buried Lake Drainage on the Antarctic Ice Sheet Author Dunmire, D. (University of Colorado) Lenaerts, J.T.M. (University of Colorado) Banwell, Alison (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences; University of Cambridge) Wever, N. (University of Colorado) Shragge, J. (Colorado School of Mines) Lhermitte, S.L.M. (TU Delft Mathematical Geodesy and Positioning) Drews, R. (Universität Tübingen) Pattyn, F. (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) Hansen, J.S.S. (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences; University of Colorado) Willis, I.C. (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences; University of Cambridge) Miller, J. (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences) Keenan, E. (University of Colorado) Date 2020 Abstract Between 1992 and 2017, the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) lost ice equivalent to 7.6 ± 3.9 mm of sea level rise. AIS mass loss is mitigated by ice shelves that provide a buttress by regulating ice flow from tributary glaciers. However, ice-shelf stability is threatened by meltwater ponding, which may initiate, or reactivate preexisting, fractures, currently poorly understood processes. Here, through ground penetrating radar (GPR) analysis over a buried lake in the grounding zone of an East Antarctic ice shelf, we present the first field observations of a lake drainage event in Antarctica via vertical fractures. Concurrent with the lake drainage event, we observe a decrease in surface elevation and an increase in Sentinel-1 backscatter. Finally, we suggest that fractures that are initiated or reactivated by lake drainage events in a grounding zone will propagate with ice flow onto the ice shelf itself, where they may have implications for its stability. Subject AntarticaglaciologyGPRhydrofracturehydrologymeltwater To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:27f2180b-367b-4dd2-8f4f-66636b105f3a DOI https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL087970 ISSN 0094-8276 Source Geophysical Research Letters, 47 (15), 1-9 Part of collection Institutional Repository Document type journal article Rights © 2020 D. Dunmire, J.T.M. Lenaerts, Alison Banwell, N. Wever, J. Shragge, S.L.M. Lhermitte, R. Drews, F. Pattyn, J.S.S. Hansen, I.C. Willis, J. Miller, E. Keenan Files PDF 2020GL087970.pdf 6.82 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:27f2180b-367b-4dd2-8f4f-66636b105f3a/datastream/OBJ/view