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Direct geological information in Antarctica is limited to ice free regions along the coast, high mountain ranges, or isolated nunataks. Therefore, indirect methods are required to reveal subglacial geology and heterogeneities in crustal properties, which are critical steps toward interpreting geological history. We present a 3D crustal model of density and susceptibility distribution in the Wilkes Subglacial Basin (WSB) and the Transantarctic Mountains (TAM) based on joint inversion of airborne gravity and magnetic data. The applied "variation of information" technique enforces a coupling between inferred susceptibility and density, relating these quantities to the same gravity and magnetic sources to give an enhanced inversion result. Our model reveals a large body located in the interior of the WSB interpreted as a batholithic intrusive structure, as well as a linear dense body at the margin of the Terre Adélie Craton. Density and susceptibility relationships are used to inform the interpretation of petrophysical properties and the reconstruction of the origin of those crustal bodies. The petrophysical relationship indicates that the postulated batholitic intrusion is granitic, but independent from the Granite Harbor Igneous Complex described previously in the TAM area. Emplacement of a large volume of intrusive granites can potentially elevate local geothermal heat flow significantly. Finally, we present a new conceptual tectonic model based on the inversion results, which includes development of a passive continental margin with seaward dipping basalt horizons and magmatic underplating followed by two distinct intrusive events associated with the protracted Ross Orogen. Plain Language Summary: Most rocks in Antarctica are hidden beneath a thick ice sheet. Therefore, indirect techniques are required to reveal rock provinces within Earth's crust below the ice. Rocks simultaneously influence the gravity and magnetic fields through their physical properties (density and susceptibility). Here we use both the gravity and magnetic fields to reveal rock provinces beneath the ice and use the relationship between density and susceptibility of the rocks to interpret the distribution of granitic rocks of the Transantarctic Mountains and the Wilkes Subglacial Basin region in East Antarctica. Granitic rocks can lead to elevated heat flow due to radiogenic decay of minerals within the rock and thus influence the overlying ice sheet. Based on our subsurface model of rock provinces we speculate on the tectonic evolution of the region. Key Points: We present a new 3D crustal density and susceptibility distribution model based on joint inversion of gravity and magnetic dataDensity and susceptibility data are used to identify crustal level intrusions and the craton marginOur new conceptual tectonic model identifies a earlier intrusive event in the interior of the Wilkes Subglacial Basin, separate from those exposed in the Transantarctic Mountains [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bedrock geology from Antarctica remains largely unknown since it is hidden beneath thick ice sheets. Geophysical methods such as gravity and magnetic inverse modelling provide a framework to infer crustal rock properties indirectly in Antarctica. However, due to limited availability of rock samples, validation against direct geological information is challenging. We present a new rock property catalogue containing density and susceptibility measurements on 320 rock samples from northern Victoria Land. This catalogue is used to assess the reliability of local and regional scale inverse results, including a new local high resolution magnetic inversion in the Mesa Range region and a previously published regional scale joint inversion of gravity and magnetic data in northern Victoria Land and the Wilkes Subglacial Basin. We compare our density and susceptibility measurements to global and local measurements from the literature to access the correlation to rock types and geological units. Furthermore, the measured values are compared against inverted values. The close correspondence between inverted and measured rock properties allows us to predict locations of rock types where currently such information is missing. The utility of measured susceptibility and density relationships for interpreting inversion output provides a strong incentive to incorporate local rock samples into geophysical studies of subglacial geology across Antarctica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, relatively warm Circumpolar Deep Water is melting Thwaites Glacier at the base of its ice shelf and at the grounding zone, contributing to significant ice retreat. Accelerating ice loss has been observed since the 1970s; however, it is unclear when this phase of significant melting initiated. We analyzed the marine sedimentary record to reconstruct Thwaites Glacier's history from the early Holocene to present. Marine geophysical surveys were carried out along the floating ice-shelf margin to identify core locations from various geomorphic settings. We use sedimentological data and physical properties to define sedimentary facies at seven core sites. Glaciomarine sediment deposits reveal that the grounded ice in the Amundsen Sea Embayment had already retreated to within ~45 km of the modern grounding zone prior to ca. 9,400 y ago. Sediments deposited within the past 100+ y record abrupt changes in environmental conditions. On seafloor highs, these shifts document ice-shelf thinning initiating at least as early as the 1940s. Sediments recovered from deep basins reflect a transition from ice proximal to slightly more distal conditions, suggesting ongoing grounding-zone retreat since the 1950s. The timing of ice-shelf unpinning from the seafloor for Thwaites Glacier coincides with similar records from neighboring Pine Island Glacier. Our work provides robust new evidence that glacier retreat in the Amundsen Sea was initiated in the mid-twentieth century, likely associated with climate variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Author(s): Matthew G. Wise (corresponding author) [1]; Julian A. Dowdeswell (corresponding author) [1]; Martin Jakobsson [2]; Robert D. Larter [3] Marine ice-cliff instability (MICI) processes could accelerate future retreat of [...]

Glaciological and oceanographic observations coupled with numerical models show that warm Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) incursions onto the West Antarctic continental shelf cause melting of the undersides of floating ice shelves. Because these ice shelves buttress glaciers feeding into them, their ocean-induced thinning is driving Antarctic ice-sheet retreat today. Here we present a multi-proxy data based reconstruction of variability in CDW inflow to the Amundsen Sea sector, the most vulnerable part of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, during the Holocene epoch (from 11.7 thousand years ago to the present). The chemical compositions of foraminifer shells and benthic foraminifer assemblages in marine sediments indicate that enhanced CDW upwelling, controlled by the latitudinal position of the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds, forced deglaciation of this sector from at least 10,400 years ago until 7,500 years agowhen an ice-shelf collapse may have caused rapid ice-sheet thinning further upstreamand since the 1940s. These results increase confidence in the predictive capability of current ice-sheet models., Author(s): Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand (corresponding author) [1]; James A. Smith [1]; David A. Hodell [2]; Mervyn Greaves [2]; Christopher R. Poole [3, 4]; Sev Kender [5, 6]; Mark Williams [3]; Thorbjrn [...]

Improvements in the resolution of sea-floor mapping techniques have revealed extremely regular, sub-metre-scale ridge landforms produced by the tidal flexure of ice-shelf grounding lines as they retreated very rapidly (i.e. at rates of several kilometres per year). Guided by such novel sea-floor observations from Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica, we present three mathematical models for the formation of these corrugation ridges at a tidally migrating grounding line (that is retreating at a constant rate), where each ridge is formed by either constant till flux to the grounding line, till extrusion from the grounding line, or the resuspension and transport of grains from the grounding-zone bed. We find that both till extrusion (squeezing out till like toothpaste as the ice sheet re-settles on the sea floor) and resuspension and transport of material can qualitatively reproduce regular, delicate ridges at a retreating grounding line, as described by sea-floor observations. By considering the known properties of subglacial sediments, we agree with existing schematic models that the most likely mechanism for ridge formation is till extrusion at each low-tide position, essentially preserving an imprint of the ice-sheet grounding line as it retreated. However, when realistic (shallow) bed slopes are used in the simulations, ridges start to overprint one another, suggesting that, to preserve the regular ridges that have been observed, grounding line retreat rates (driven by dynamic thinning?) may be even higher than previously thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Transantarctic Mountains (TAMs) separate the warmer lithosphere of the Cretaceous‐Tertiary West Antarctic rift system and the colder and older provinces of East Antarctica. Low velocity zones beneath the TAM imaged in recent seismological studies have been interpreted as warm low‐density mantle material, suggesting a strong contribution of thermal support to the uplift of the TAM. We present new Curie Point Depth (CPD) and geothermal heat flow (GHF) maps of the northern TAM and adjacent Wilkes Subglacial Basin (WSB) based exclusively on high resolution magnetic airborne measurements. We find shallow CPD and high GHF beneath the northern TAM, reinforcing the hypothesis of thermal support of the topography of the mountain range. Additionally, this study demonstrates, that limiting spectral analysis to areas with a high density of aeromagnetic measurements increases the resolution of CPD estimates revealing localized shallow CPD and associated high heat flow in the Central Basin of the WSB and the Rennick Graben (RG). Across the study area the CPD ranges from 15 to 35 km and the GHF values range from 30 to 110 mW/m2. The recovered CPD range is compatible with recent Moho depth estimates, as the CPD predominantly lies within the crust, rather than in the magnetite‐poor mantle. GHF estimates, based on the CPD estimates, show a good agreement to sparse in situ GHF measurements and the location of active volcanoes. Comparison to existing continent‐wide GHF estimates shows strong differences from magnetically‐derived heat flow estimates, while seismologically‐derived heat flow estimates show the best agreement to our results. Plain Language Summary: The Transantarctic Mountains (TAMs) separating the ancient East Antarctic region from the younger West Antarctic region. Recent studies found regions where acoustic waves move slowly beneath the TAM. Slow wave speeds are considered to be caused by warmer rocks at depth, which provide thermal support for the TAM. We present heat flow maps for this region. The estimated heat flow is based on "Curie Point Depths" (CPDs), which describes the depth at which magnetic rocks lose their magnetic properties due to increasing temperature. This temperature is called the Curie temperature (∼580°C for magnetite, the most common magnetic mineral in the Earth's crust). The heat flow at the surface is estimated from the depth at which this temperature is reached. We use for the first time for a CPD study in Antarctica exclusively high‐resolution magnetic data measured from aircraft. We demonstrated that limiting this method to airborne data improves the resolution of CPD variation, and thus heat flow estimates, substantially. We find shallow CPD and high heat flow beneath the TAM, which supports the suggestion that warmer rocks provide thermal support for the TAM. Additionally, we find high heat flow in the adjacent Wilkes Subglacial Basin and Rennick Graben. Key Points: Spectral analysis of exclusively aeromagnetic data over East Antarctica provides new Curie Point Depth and geothermal heat flow estimatesHigh heat flow imaged beneath the Transantarctic Mountains reinforces the hypothesis that the topography is thermally supportedUsing exclusively airborne data improves the resolution of Curie depth estimation, revealing heat flow correlated to geological features [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improvements in the resolution of seafloor mapping techniques have revealed extremely regular, sub-meter scale ridge landforms produced by the tidal flexure of ice-shelf grounding lines as they retreated very rapidly (i.e., at rates of several kilometres per year). Guided by such novel seafloor observations from Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica, we present three mathematical models for the formation of these corrugation ridges at a tidally migrating grounding line (that is retreating at a constant rate) where each ridge is formed by either constant till flux to the grounding line, till extrusion from the grounding line, or by the resuspension and transport of grains from the tidal cavity. We find that both till extrusion (squeezing out till like toothpaste as the ice sheet re-settles on the seafloor), and resuspension and transport of material from the grounding-zone bed can qualitatively reproduce regular, delicate ridges at a retreating grounding line as described from seafloor observations. By considering the known properties of subglacial sediments we agree with existing schematic models that the most likely mechanism for ridge formation is till extrusion at each low-tide position, essentially preserving an imprint of the ice-sheet grounding line as it retreated. However, when realistic (shallow) bedslopes are used in the simulations ridges start to overprint one another suggesting that, to preserve the regular ridges that have been observed, grounding line retreat rates (driven by dynamic thinning?) may be even higher than previously thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current ice loss from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) accounts for about ten per cent of observed global sea-level rise (1). Losses are dominated by dynamic thinning, in which [...]

The flow of ice streams, which account for most discharge from large ice sheets, is controlled by processes operating at the ice stream bed. Data from modern ice stream beds are difficult to obtain, but where ice advanced onto continental shelves during glacial periods, extensive areas of the former bed can be imaged using modern swath sonar tools. We present new multibeam swath bathymetry data analyzed alongside sparse preexisting data from the Amundsen Sea embayment. The compilation is the most extensive, continuous area of multibeam data coverage yet obtained on the inner continental shelf of Antarctica. The data reveal streamlined subglacial bedforms that define a zone of paleo-ice stream convergence, but, in contrast to previous models, do not show a simple downflow progression of bedform types along paleo-ice stream troughs. We interpret high spatial variability of bedforms as indicating a complex mechanical and hydrodynamic regime at the former ice stream beds, consistent with observations from some modern ice streams. We conclude that care must be taken when using bedforms to infer paleo-ice stream velocities.

Interplay of deep‐water sedimentary processes is responsible for building a myriad of features and deposits across mixed turbidite–contourite systems, from <5 cm beds to >200 km long sedimentary drifts. Investigations of the spatial and temporal variability of their sedimentary facies and facies associations is crucial to reveal the dynamics between along‐slope bottom currents and down‐slope turbidity currents, as well as their impact on drift construction and channel erosion. This study focuses on extensive modern mixed (turbidite–contourite) systems, developed across the continental rise of the Pacific margin of the Antarctic Peninsula. Nine sediment cores were sampled and analysed, through grain size and geochemical methods, to study the sedimentary facies at high‐resolution (ca 1 to 20 cm). Three main facies associations have been identified across distinct morphological features (i.e. mounded drifts and trunk channels), comprising intercalations of hemipelagites, bottom current reworked sands (which include fine to coarse‐grained contourites) and gravitational facies (turbidites and mass‐transport deposits). These facies associations reflect fluctuations of the background sedimentation, oscillations of the bottom‐current velocity and of the frequency of gravity‐driven currents. The sedimentary record features cyclic alternations during the Late Quaternary (>99 kyr), suggesting that variations between along‐slope bottom currents and down‐slope turbidity currents are strongly linked to glacial–interglacial cycles during Marine Isotope Stages 1 to 6. Sedimentary records affected by bottom currents on polar margins, such as those of the Antarctic Peninsula, are essential to decipher the facies and facies sequences of bottom‐current deposits, as the low degree of bioturbation throughout most of the sediments allows us to observe the original sedimentary structures, which are poorly preserved in similar deposits from other continental margins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the first multichannel seismic (MCS) reflection line that crosses the South Sandwich Trench, South Sandwich island arc, and East Scotia Sea backarc basin. The line is used in combination with earthquake catalogue data to interpret the strain distribution across the Sandwich plate and the relationship of forearc structures to processes operating at the trench. The MCS data reveal a 1.2-km-high fault scarp associated with a 20-km-wide arcward-tilted block in the mid-forearc; these features indicate large-scale gravitational collapse, and earthquake data are consistent with trench-normal extension at shallow depth in this area. There is, however, little evidence of distributed extension within the interior of the Sandwich plate. The MCS data show a small frontal wedge that achieves its maximum thickness only 18 km from the trench. Backarc magnetic data, mid-forearc extension, and the small size of the frontal wedge are all consistent with long-term and ongoing subduction erosion. Earthquake data suggest that this erosion is taking place in an environment of low interplate stress. Keywords: earthquakes, South Sandwich Islands, seismic reflection data, subduction.

Quantitative estimates of the rates and azimuths of Phoenix plate convergence with the Antarctic Peninsula have been derived from plate rotation calculations for two periods in the Late Cretaceous and early Tertiary (83.0-67.7 and 61.1-53.4 Ma). Published marine magnetic anomaly identifications and 'flow lines' interpreted from gravity anomaly maps were used in simple spherical geometry calculations to derive Phoenix Pacific stage rotations. These were combined with published Pacific Antarctic rotation data to determine contemporaneous Phoenix-Antarctic stage rotations. The results indicate a significant change in azimuths of relative motion between the Late Cretaceous and early Tertiary. Late Cretaceous, and perhaps earlier, oblique subduction probably caused migration of fore-arc slivers along the margin, resulting in variations in width of the accretionary prism. Comparison between synthetic magnetic profiles and a 900 km long magnetic profile across ocean floor produced at the Antarctic-Phoenix ridge during the early Tertiary establishes the time of a major decrease in spreading rate, and hence also in convergence rate, as chron C23r (52.3 Ma). The associated change in subduction dynamics may have caused the dextral transtensional deformation observed in the George VI Sound region and initiated uplift of blueschist facies rocks now exposed on Smith Island. The calculated convergence history does not provide a simple explanation for the occurrence of high-Mg# andesite lavas on Alexander Island, which were erupted more than 20 Ma before the Antarctic-Phoenix ridge arrived at the margin. The existence of these lavas implies either earlier subduction of another ridge or slab break-up beneath Alexander Island. Keywords: Antarctica, plate rotation, magnetic anomalies, subduction, andesites.

The geometry of the sea floor immediately beyond Antarctica's marine-terminating glaciers is a fundamental control on warm-water routing, but it also describes former topographic pinning points that have been important for ice-shelf buttressing. Unfortunately, this information is often lacking due to the inaccessibility of these areas for survey, leading to modelled or interpolated bathymetries being used as boundary conditions in numerical modelling simulations. At Thwaites Glacier (TG) this critical data gap was addressed in 2019 during the first cruise of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC) project. We present more than 2000 km 2 of new multibeam echo-sounder (MBES) data acquired in exceptional sea-ice conditions immediately offshore TG, and we update existing bathymetric compilations. The cross-sectional areas of sea-floor troughs are under-predicted by up to 40 % or are not resolved at all where MBES data are missing, suggesting that calculations of trough capacity, and thus oceanic heat flux, may be significantly underestimated. Spatial variations in the morphology of topographic highs, known to be former pinning points for the floating ice shelf of TG, indicate differences in bed composition that are supported by landform evidence. We discuss links to ice dynamics for an overriding ice mass including a potential positive feedback mechanism where erosion of soft erodible highs may lead to ice-shelf ungrounding even with little or no ice thinning. Analyses of bed roughnesses and basal drag contributions show that the sea-floor bathymetry in front of TG is an analogue for extant bed areas. Ice flow over the sea-floor troughs and ridges would have been affected by similarly high basal drag to that acting at the grounding zone today. We conclude that more can certainly be gleaned from these 3D bathymetric datasets regarding the likely spatial variability of bed roughness and bed composition types underneath TG. This work also addresses the requirements of recent numerical ice-sheet and ocean modelling studies that have recognised the need for accurate and high-resolution bathymetry to determine warm-water routing to the grounding zone and, ultimately, for predicting glacier retreat behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ice shelves play a critical role in the long-term stability of ice sheets through their buttressing effect. The underlying bathymetry and cavity thickness are key inputs for modelling future ice sheet evolution. However, direct observation of sub-ice-shelf bathymetry is time-consuming, logistically risky, and in some areas simply not possible. Here we use new compilations of airborne and marine gravity, radar depth sounding, and swath bathymetry to provide new estimates of sub-ice-shelf bathymetry outboard of the rapidly changing West Antarctic Thwaites Glacier and beneath the adjacent Dotson and Crosson ice shelves. This region is of special interest, as the low-lying inland reverse slope of the Thwaites Glacier system makes it vulnerable to marine ice sheet instability, with rapid grounding line retreat observed since 1993 suggesting this process may be underway. Our results confirm a major marine channel >800 m deep extends tens of kilometres to the front of Thwaites Glacier, while the adjacent ice shelves are underlain by more complex bathymetry. Comparison of our new bathymetry with ice shelf draft reveals that ice shelves formed since 1993 comprise a distinct population where the draft conforms closely to the underlying bathymetry, unlike the older ice shelves, which show a more uniform depth of the ice base. This indicates that despite rapid basal melting in some areas, these recently floated parts of the ice shelf are not yet in dynamic equilibrium with their retreated grounding line positions and the underlying ocean system, a factor which must be included in future models of this region's evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Antarctic ice sheet extent in the Weddell Sea embayment (WSE) during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; ca. 19–25 calibrated kiloyears before present, ka cal BP) and its subsequent retreat from the shelf are poorly constrained, with two conflicting scenarios being discussed. Today, the modern Brunt Ice Shelf, the last remaining ice shelf in the northeastern WSE, is only pinned at a single location and recent crevasse development may lead to its rapid disintegration in the near future. We investigated the seafloor morphology on the northeastern WSE shelf and discuss its implications, in combination with marine geological records, to create reconstructions of the past behaviour of this sector of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS), including ice–seafloor interactions. Our data show that an ice stream flowed through Stancomb-Wills Trough and acted as the main conduit for EAIS drainage during the LGM in this sector. Post-LGM ice stream retreat occurred stepwise, with at least three documented grounding-line still-stands, and the trough had become free of grounded ice by ∼10.5 ka cal BP. In contrast, slow-flowing ice once covered the shelf in Brunt Basin and extended westwards toward McDonald Bank. During a later time period, only floating ice was present within Brunt Basin, but large "ice slabs" enclosed within the ice shelf occasionally ran aground at the eastern side of McDonald Bank, forming 10 unusual ramp-shaped seabed features. These ramps are the result of temporary ice shelf grounding events buttressing the ice further upstream. To the west of this area, Halley Trough very likely was free of grounded ice during the LGM, representing a potential refuge for benthic shelf fauna at this time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mid-Cretaceous period was one of the warmest intervals of the past 140 million years1–5, driven by atmospheric carbon dioxide levels of around 1,000 parts per million by volume6. In the near absence of proximal geological records from south of the Antarctic Circle, it is disputed whether polar ice could exist under such environmental conditions. Here we use a sedimentary sequence recovered from the West Antarctic shelf—the southernmost Cretaceous record reported so far—and show that a temperate lowland rainforest environment existed at a palaeolatitude of about 82° S during the Turonian–Santonian age (92 to 83 million years ago). This record contains an intact 3-metre-long network of in situ fossil roots embedded in a mudstone matrix containing diverse pollen and spores. A climate model simulation shows that the reconstructed temperate climate at this high latitude requires a combination of both atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations of 1,120–1,680 parts per million by volume and a vegetated land surface without major Antarctic glaciation, highlighting the important cooling effect exerted by ice albedo under high levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Multi-proxy core data and model simulations support the presence of temperate rainforests near the South Pole during mid-Cretaceous warmth, indicating very high CO2 levels and the absence of Antarctic ice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outburst floods from subglacial lakes beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet modulate ice-flow velocities over periods of months to years. Although subglacial lake drainage events have been observed from satellite-altimetric data, little is known about their role in the long-term evolution of ice-sheet basal hydrology. Here, we systematically map and model past water flow through an extensive area containing over 1000 subglacial channels and 19 former lake basins exposed on over 19 000 km 2 of seafloor by the retreat of Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers, West Antarctica. At 507 m wide and 43 m deep on average, the channels offshore of present-day Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers are approximately twice as deep, 3 times as wide, and cover an area over 400 times larger than the terrestrial meltwater channels comprising the Labyrinth in the Antarctic Dry Valleys. The channels incised into bedrock offshore of contemporary Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers would have been capable of accommodating discharges of up to 8.8×106 m 3 s -1. We suggest that the channels were formed by episodic discharges from subglacial lakes trapped during ice-sheet advance and retreat over multiple glacial periods. Our results document the widespread influence of episodic subglacial drainage events during past glacial periods, in particular beneath large ice streams similar to those that continue to dominate contemporary ice-sheet discharge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]