Rare ice-base temperature measurements in Antarctica reveal a cold base in contrast with predictions
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The Antarctic bed demonstrates complex behaviour comprising alternating warm- and cold-based areas. However, the distribution of warm- and cold-based areas, basal melting rates, and the structure and age of the basal ice are not yet fully known. In the 2023–2024 season, we drilled an access borehole through 541 m thick ice at Princess Elizabeth Land, 28 km south of the coast. Temperature measurements at the bottom of the borehole revealed a cold underlying base despite a warm-based interface being predicted in advance as the most likely estimate. Our results imply that the Antarctic base can be locally colder than currently assumed, and that thermal models, especially basal boundary conditions, should be carefully specified and provided with the confirmed input data. Temperature measurements at bedrock below 541 meters of ice in Antarctica’s Princess Elizabeth Land show a cold base with basal ice solidly frozen to the bedrock, in contrast with advance predictions of a warm bed, as found in an access borehole in 2024.
Authors: Pavel G. Talalay, German Leitchenkov, Vladimir Lipenkov, Youhong Sun, Nan Zhang, Da Gong, Yunchen Liu, Yazhou Li, Yuchen Sun, Ilnur Abdrakhmanov, Mstislav Vorobyev, Damir Khalimov, Xiaopeng Fan, Andrey Salamatin, Alexey A. Ekaykin, Bing Li
Institutions: Jilin University, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), St Petersburg University, All Russian Research Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources of the World Ocean, Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, China University of Geosciences, Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geography
Language: English
Subfield: Atmospheric Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,490
Award: G2426213737
OpenAlex ID: W4408247442