Coupled Ice Sheet Structure and Bedrock Geology in the Deep Interior of East Antarctica: Results From Dome A and the South Pole Basin
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The deep interior of the East Antarctic Ice sheet likely contains important records of climate and ice sheet evolution. Here we report on a recent aerogeophysical survey of the southern flank of Dome A, over South Pole Basin. We find an extensive radioglaciologically defined basal unit under Dome A that abruptly truncates within South Pole Basin. This truncation aligns with a change of subglacial bed properties and distinct subglacial landforms. We infer that this basal unit may be slowly transporting and depositing material through local basal melting in South Pole Basin into an extensive, subglacially forming, sedimentary basin. In turn, this sedimentary basin may induce locally enhanced melting by hosting local groundwater.
Source: Geophysical Research Letters
DOI: 10.1029/2025gl115729
Institutions: University of Texas Institute for Geophysics, The University of Texas at Austin, University of Kansas, Center for Remote Sensing and Integrated Systems, University of Washington, University of Virginia, University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Language: English
Subfield: Atmospheric Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,190
OpenAlex ID: W4414801492