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The Glacial Geomorphology of the Antarctic Ice Sheet Bed

Jamieson, S.S.R.; Stokes, C.R.; Ross, N.; Rippin, D.M.; Bingham, R.G.; Wilson, D.S.; Margold, M.; Bentley, M.J.

The Glacial Geomorphology of the Antarctic Ice Sheet Bed Thumbnail


Authors

N. Ross

D.M. Rippin

R.G. Bingham

D.S. Wilson

M. Margold



Abstract

In 1976, David Sugden and Brian John developed a classification for Antarctic landscapes of glacial erosion based upon exposed and eroded coastal topography, providing insight into the past glacial dynamics of the Antarctic ice sheets. We extend this classification to cover the continental interior of Antarctica by analysing the hypsometry of the subglacial landscape using a recently released dataset of bed topography (BEDMAP2). We used the existing classification as a basis for first developing a low-resolution description of landscape evolution under the ice sheet before building a more detailed classification of patterns of glacial erosion. Our key finding is that a more widespread distribution of ancient, preserved alpine landscapes may survive beneath the Antarctic ice sheets than has been previously recognized. Furthermore, the findings suggest that landscapes of selective erosion exist further inland than might be expected, and may reflect the presence of thinner, less extensive ice in the past. Much of the selective nature of erosion may be controlled by pre-glacial topography, and especially by the large-scale tectonic structure and fluvial valley network. The hypotheses of landscape evolution presented here can be tested by future surveys of the Antarctic ice sheet bed.

Citation

Jamieson, S., Stokes, C., Ross, N., Rippin, D., Bingham, R., Wilson, D., …Bentley, M. (2014). The Glacial Geomorphology of the Antarctic Ice Sheet Bed. Antarctic Science, 26(6), 724-741. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102014000212

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Mar 13, 2014
Online Publication Date Nov 13, 2014
Publication Date Dec 1, 2014
Deposit Date Apr 1, 2014
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Antarctic Science
Print ISSN 0954-1020
Electronic ISSN 1365-2079
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 26
Issue 6
Pages 724-741
DOI https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102014000212
Keywords Antarctica, Cenozoic, Glacial erosion, Ice sheet history, Landscape evolution, Morphometry.

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Copyright Statement
© Antarctic Science Ltd 2014 This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.






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