Detecting and Searching for subglacial lakes through airborne radio-echo sounding in Princess Elizabeth Land (PEL), Antarctica

Xiangbin Cui,Bo Sun,Shinan Lang,Jingxue Guo,O Makarieva,D Post

doi:10.1051/e3sconf/202016304002

Xiangbin Cui, Bo Sun + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202016304002

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Abstract

Over 400 subglacial lakes were discovered in Antarctica through radio-echo sounding (RES) method and remote sensing. Subglacial lakes have significance in lubricating ice-bedrock interface and enhancing ice flow. Moreover, ancient lives may exist in the extreme environment. Since 2015, the “Snow Eagle 601” BT-67 airborne platform has been deployed and applied to map ice sheet and bedrock of Princess Elizabeth Land. One of great motivations of airborne surveys is to detect and search for subglacial lakes in the region. In this paper, we provided preliminary results of RES over both old and new discovered lakes, including Lake Vostok, a potential second large subglacial lake and other lakes beneath interior of the ice sheet in Antarctica.

Highlights

Over 400 subglacial lakes have been found beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) through radio-echo sounding (RES) method and remote sensing of changes of ice surface elevation, including the largest and most famous lake of Lake Vostok [1,2]
We provided preliminary results of new discovered subglacial lakes in Princess Elizabeth Land (PEL) mainly based on qualitative analysis of radargrams
We show seven definite subglacial lakes (L1-L6 and Lake Vostok along F5 transect) detected by the radar system (Fig.1). Their locations are shown in orange points and green points in Fig.1 (L1-L6) and green line (Lake Vostok)

Summary

Introduction

Over 400 subglacial lakes have been found beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) through RES method and remote sensing of changes of ice surface elevation, including the largest and most famous lake of Lake Vostok [1,2]. Our knowledge of subglacial lakes beneath the AIS is still limited in regions where have RES data. Subglacial lakes in Princess Elizabeth Land (PEL), the largest area of data blank in Antarctica [8], are unknown. Jamieson et al [9] infers a large subglacial lake may exist in PEL through satellite data, but the result needs to be identified. The “Snow Eagle 601” is a BT-67 airplane which has been well used in Antarctica. We provided preliminary results of new discovered subglacial lakes in PEL mainly based on qualitative analysis of radargrams

Airborne platform and RES system

Study area and flight line coverage

Results