Seismic evidence for a water-filled canal in deforming till beneath Rutford Ice Stream, West Antarctica

Seismic data from Rutford Ice Stream, West Antarctica show high amplitude, reversed-polarity reflections from parts of the bed. Only interfaces between ice and water, or between water and sediment have the acoustic properties to produce such strong reflections - ice/sediment interfaces produce much weaker echoes. The evidence suggests that an area of the ice stream measuring at least 1 km by 0.2 km is underlain by water with a depth of less than 1 m. The data are consistent with the presence of a sub-ice drainage system comprising shallow canals cut into the sedimentary substrate, as predicted by theory.

Details

Publication status:
Published
Author(s):
Authors: King, Edward C. ORCIDORCID record for Edward C. King, Woodward, John, Smith, Andrew M. ORCIDORCID record for Andrew M. Smith

On this site: Andy Smith, Edward King
Date:
1 January, 2004
Journal/Source:
Geophysical Research Letters / 31
Page(s):
4pp
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):
https://doi.org/10.1029/2004GL020379