HR: 0800h
AN: C21B-1096    [Abstracts]
TI: New Boundary Conditions for Ice Sheet Modeling of the Thwaites Glacier Catchment from a Multi-Instrumented Airborne Geophysical Survey of the Amundsen Sea Embayment, West Antarctica
AU: * Holt, J W
EM: jack@ig.utexas.edu
AF: University of Texas Institute for Geophysics John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geoscience University of Texas at Austin, 4412 Spicewood Springs Rd. Bldg. 600, Austin, TX 78759 United States
AU: Blankenship, D D
EM: blank@ig.utexas.edu
AF: University of Texas Institute for Geophysics John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geoscience University of Texas at Austin, 4412 Spicewood Springs Rd. Bldg. 600, Austin, TX 78759 United States
AU: Morse, D L
EM: morse@ig.utexas.edu
AF: University of Texas Institute for Geophysics John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geoscience University of Texas at Austin, 4412 Spicewood Springs Rd. Bldg. 600, Austin, TX 78759 United States
AU: Young, D A
EM: duncan@ig.utexas.edu
AF: University of Texas Institute for Geophysics John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geoscience University of Texas at Austin, 4412 Spicewood Springs Rd. Bldg. 600, Austin, TX 78759 United States
AU: Vaughan, D G
EM: dgv@bas.ac.uk
AF: British Antarctic Survey, High Cross Maddingly Road, Cambridge, GBR CB3OET
AB: The glaciers of the Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE), West Antarctica have become a focus for integrated studies by both the U.S. and European scientific communities due to the recognition of non-steady behavior there and the ASE's dominant role in WAIS mass balance. The community-driven Amundsen Sea Embayment Science Plan has the overarching objectives of assessing the present and predicting the future behavior of the ice sheet in the ASE through modeling activities. The multidisciplinary nature of coupled lithosphere and ice sheet studies requires a broad approach for which multi-instrumented airborne surveys are well suited. Radar sounding data are used to determine bed morphology and to provide measurements of ice thickness necessary to calculate ice sheet driving stress and hydrologic potential. Gravity and magnetics data can help identify crustal blocks, sedimentary basins, volcanic activity, and to characterize geothermal flux, all of which are critical to models of ice sheet dynamics. Laser surface elevations enable detailed mass balance calculations and satellite altimeter calibrations. With these goals, the University of Texas (UT) and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) recently undertook a comprehensive aerogeophysical survey encompassing the two major drainage basins within the Amundsen Sea Embayment - Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers. We conducted this survey during the 2004/05 austral summer, operating from two remote field camps and using two survey aircraft. To accommodate both 2D and 3D modeling efforts, we developed a strategy that balanced coarse coverage of the glacier catchments, higher-resolution coverage of the fast-flow regimes, and along-flow profiles. In spite of the distance from logistical centers and significant weather hindrances, the objectives were achieved. More than 43,000 line-km of multi-instrumented aerogeophysical data were collected over the Thwaites Glacier catchment resulting in a 15 km grid and seven along-flow profiles. Preliminary maps of the data reveal the first comprehensive picture of the Thwaites Glacier catchment.
DE: 0720 Glaciers
DE: 0726 Ice sheets
DE: 1707 Cryosphere
DE: 9310 Antarctica (4207)
SC: Cryosphere [C]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005