Fine-Scale Geothermal Heat Flow in Antarctica Can Increase Simulated Subglacial Melt Estimates

Felicity S. McCormack; Jason L. Roberts; Christine F. Dow; Tobias Stål; Jacqueline A. Halpin; Anya M. Reading; Martin J. Siegert

doi:10.1029/2022GL098539

Fine-Scale Geothermal Heat Flow in Antarctica Can Increase Simulated Subglacial Melt Estimates

Felicity S. McCormack
, Jason L. Roberts
, Christine F. Dow
, Tobias Stål
, Jacqueline A. Halpin
, Anya M. Reading
, Martin J. Siegert

School of Earth Atmosphere and Environment

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

26 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Antarctic geothermal heat flow (GHF) affects the thermal regime of ice sheets and simulations of ice and subglacial meltwater discharge to the ocean, but remains poorly constrained. We use an ice sheet model to investigate the impact of GHF anomalies on subglacial meltwater production in the Aurora Subglacial Basin, East Antarctica. We find that spatially-variable GHF fields produce more meltwater than a constant GHF with the same background mean, and meltwater production increases as the resolution of GHF anomalies increases. Our results suggest that model simulations of this region systematically underestimate meltwater production using current GHF models. We determine the minimum basal heating required to bring the basal ice temperature to the pressure melting point, which should be taken together with the scale-length of likely local variability in targeting in-situ GHF field campaigns.

Original language	English
Article number	e2022GL098539
Number of pages	9
Journal	Geophysical Research Letters
Volume	49
Issue number	15
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL098539
Publication status	Published - 16 Aug 2022

Keywords

Antarctica
Aurora Subglacial Basin
basal melt
geothermal heat flow
ice sheet model

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10.1029/2022GL098539Licence: CC BY

Cite this

@article{c5d63b9b4ced43f5bb5a1142de111b2e,

title = "Fine-Scale Geothermal Heat Flow in Antarctica Can Increase Simulated Subglacial Melt Estimates",

abstract = "Antarctic geothermal heat flow (GHF) affects the thermal regime of ice sheets and simulations of ice and subglacial meltwater discharge to the ocean, but remains poorly constrained. We use an ice sheet model to investigate the impact of GHF anomalies on subglacial meltwater production in the Aurora Subglacial Basin, East Antarctica. We find that spatially-variable GHF fields produce more meltwater than a constant GHF with the same background mean, and meltwater production increases as the resolution of GHF anomalies increases. Our results suggest that model simulations of this region systematically underestimate meltwater production using current GHF models. We determine the minimum basal heating required to bring the basal ice temperature to the pressure melting point, which should be taken together with the scale-length of likely local variability in targeting in-situ GHF field campaigns.",

keywords = "Antarctica, Aurora Subglacial Basin, basal melt, geothermal heat flow, ice sheet model",

author = "McCormack, \{Felicity S.\} and Roberts, \{Jason L.\} and Dow, \{Christine F.\} and Tobias St{\aa}l and Halpin, \{Jacqueline A.\} and Reading, \{Anya M.\} and Siegert, \{Martin J.\}",

note = "Funding Information: The authors thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback. FSM was supported under an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Research Award (DE210101433) and the ARC Special Research Initiative Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future (SR200100005). This research was undertaken with the assistance of resources from the National Computational Infrastructure, which is supported by the Australian Government. TS and AMR were supported by ARC Discovery Project (DP190100418) and the ARC Special Research Initiative, Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science (ACEAS, SR200100008). JH was supported by ACEAS (SR200100008) and ARC Discovery Project (DP180104074). CD was supported by the Canada Research Chairs Program (950-231237). Funding Information: The authors thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback. FSM was supported under an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Research Award (DE210101433) and the ARC Special Research Initiative Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future (SR200100005). This research was undertaken with the assistance of resources from the National Computational Infrastructure, which is supported by the Australian Government. TS and AMR were supported by ARC Discovery Project (DP190100418) and the ARC Special Research Initiative, Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science (ACEAS, SR200100008). JH was supported by ACEAS (SR200100008) and ARC Discovery Project (DP180104074). CD was supported by the Canada Research Chairs Program (950‐231237). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022. The Authors.",

year = "2022",

month = aug,

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doi = "10.1029/2022GL098539",

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AU - McCormack, Felicity S.

AU - Roberts, Jason L.

AU - Dow, Christine F.

AU - Stål, Tobias

AU - Halpin, Jacqueline A.

AU - Reading, Anya M.

AU - Siegert, Martin J.

N1 - Funding Information: The authors thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback. FSM was supported under an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Research Award (DE210101433) and the ARC Special Research Initiative Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future (SR200100005). This research was undertaken with the assistance of resources from the National Computational Infrastructure, which is supported by the Australian Government. TS and AMR were supported by ARC Discovery Project (DP190100418) and the ARC Special Research Initiative, Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science (ACEAS, SR200100008). JH was supported by ACEAS (SR200100008) and ARC Discovery Project (DP180104074). CD was supported by the Canada Research Chairs Program (950-231237). Funding Information: The authors thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback. FSM was supported under an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Research Award (DE210101433) and the ARC Special Research Initiative Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future (SR200100005). This research was undertaken with the assistance of resources from the National Computational Infrastructure, which is supported by the Australian Government. TS and AMR were supported by ARC Discovery Project (DP190100418) and the ARC Special Research Initiative, Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science (ACEAS, SR200100008). JH was supported by ACEAS (SR200100008) and ARC Discovery Project (DP180104074). CD was supported by the Canada Research Chairs Program (950‐231237). Publisher Copyright: © 2022. The Authors.

PY - 2022/8/16

Y1 - 2022/8/16

N2 - Antarctic geothermal heat flow (GHF) affects the thermal regime of ice sheets and simulations of ice and subglacial meltwater discharge to the ocean, but remains poorly constrained. We use an ice sheet model to investigate the impact of GHF anomalies on subglacial meltwater production in the Aurora Subglacial Basin, East Antarctica. We find that spatially-variable GHF fields produce more meltwater than a constant GHF with the same background mean, and meltwater production increases as the resolution of GHF anomalies increases. Our results suggest that model simulations of this region systematically underestimate meltwater production using current GHF models. We determine the minimum basal heating required to bring the basal ice temperature to the pressure melting point, which should be taken together with the scale-length of likely local variability in targeting in-situ GHF field campaigns.

AB - Antarctic geothermal heat flow (GHF) affects the thermal regime of ice sheets and simulations of ice and subglacial meltwater discharge to the ocean, but remains poorly constrained. We use an ice sheet model to investigate the impact of GHF anomalies on subglacial meltwater production in the Aurora Subglacial Basin, East Antarctica. We find that spatially-variable GHF fields produce more meltwater than a constant GHF with the same background mean, and meltwater production increases as the resolution of GHF anomalies increases. Our results suggest that model simulations of this region systematically underestimate meltwater production using current GHF models. We determine the minimum basal heating required to bring the basal ice temperature to the pressure melting point, which should be taken together with the scale-length of likely local variability in targeting in-situ GHF field campaigns.

KW - Antarctica

KW - Aurora Subglacial Basin

KW - basal melt

KW - geothermal heat flow

KW - ice sheet model

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85135906675

U2 - 10.1029/2022GL098539

DO - 10.1029/2022GL098539

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85135906675

SN - 0094-8276

VL - 49

JO - Geophysical Research Letters

JF - Geophysical Research Letters

IS - 15

M1 - e2022GL098539

ER -

Fine-Scale Geothermal Heat Flow in Antarctica Can Increase Simulated Subglacial Melt Estimates

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

From creeping to sliding: controls on Antarctic Ice Sheet flow processes

SAEF: Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future – An Evidence-Based, Informatics Approach

Cite this

Fine-Scale Geothermal Heat Flow in Antarctica Can Increase Simulated Subglacial Melt Estimates

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Projects

From creeping to sliding: controls on Antarctic Ice Sheet flow processes

SAEF: Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future – An Evidence-Based, Informatics Approach

Cite this