AWI's UWB radar: Advanced insights into and beneath the polar ice sheets

Future sea-level predictions require that the history and physical state of the Antarctic ice sheet is well understood and constrained by observations. Much of the ice sheets’ ice-dynamic properties are governed by processes at the ice-bed interface which can be imaged with radar sounding surveys. Moreover, certain processes at the ice-sheet base can have an effect all the way to the ice surface, which in turn can be observed with satellites. Here we use a combination of ultra-wideband radio-echo sounding data, satellite radar and laser altimetry data to characterize the evolution of the subglacial morphology of the Jutulstraumen drainage basin (western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica). Based on the classification of the bed topography, we reconstruct the step-by-step modifications the subglacial landscape has experienced since the beginning of the glaciation of Antarctica, 34 million years ago. In addition, between 2017 and 2020, we find evidence of active episodic cascade-like subglacial water transport along the subglacial valley network. The combination of these observations will represent an important step towards a better understanding of large-scale ice-sheet dynamics in western Dronning Maud Land.