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Hodson, Timothy O; Powell, Ross; Brachfield, Stefanie; Tulaczyk, Slawek; Scherer, Reed P; WISSARD Science Team (2016): Core scans and lithologic analysis of Subglacial Lake Whillans sediment cores [dataset publication series]. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.859990, Supplement to: Hodson, TO et al. (2016): Physical processes in Subglacial Lake Whillans, West Antarctica: inferences from sediment cores. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 444, 56-63, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2016.03.036

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Abstract:
The hydrologic system beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet is thought to influence both the dynamics and distribution of fast flowing ice streams, which discharge most of the ice lost by the ice sheet. Despite considerable interest in understanding this subglacial network and its affect on ice flow, in situ observations from the ice sheet bed are exceedingly rare. Here we describe the first sediment cores recovered from an active subglacial lake. The lake, known as Subglacial Lake Whillans, is part of a broader, dynamic hydrologic network beneath the Whillans Ice Stream in West Antarctica. Even though "floods" pass through the lake, the lake floor shows no evidence of erosion or deposition by flowing water. By inference, these floods must have insufficient energy to erode or transport significant volumes of sediment coarser than silt. Consequently, water flow beneath the region is probably incapable of incising continuous channels into the bed and instead follows preexisting subglacial topography and surface slope. Sediment on the lake floor consists of till deposited during intermittent grounding of the ice stream following flood events. The fabrics within the till are weaker than those thought to develop in thick deforming beds suggesting subglacial sediment fluxes across the ice plain are currently low and unlikely to have a large stabilizing effect on the ice stream's grounding zone.
Further details:
Subglacial Lake Whillans sediment cores - Readme
Coverage:
Latitude: -82.375000 * Longitude: -168.625000
Event(s):
SLW1_PC1 * Latitude: -82.375000 * Longitude: -168.625000 * Recovery: 0.74 m * Method/Device: Piston corer (PC)
SLW1_PEC1 * Latitude: -82.375000 * Longitude: -168.625000 * Recovery: 0.41 m * Method/Device: Percussion corer (PCOR)
SLW1_SLW_MC1A * Latitude: -82.375000 * Longitude: -168.625000 * Recovery: 0.185 m * Method/Device: MultiCorer (MUC)
License:
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC-BY-3.0)
Size:
15 datasets

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Datasets listed in this publication series

  1. Hodson, TO; Powell, R; Brachfield, S et al. (2016): 4.4. Documentation of sediment core SLW1_PC1. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.859986
  2. Hodson, TO; Powell, R; Brachfield, S et al. (2016): 4.4. Documentation of sediment core SLW1_PEC1. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.859987
  3. Hodson, TO; Powell, R; Brachfield, S et al. (2016): 4.4. Documentation of sediment core SLW1_SLW_MC1A. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.859988
  4. Hodson, TO; Powell, R; Brachfield, S et al. (2016): 4.4. Documentation of sediment core SLW1_SLW_MC3A. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.859989
  5. Hodson, TO; Powell, R; Brachfield, S et al. (2016): 4.5. Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility of SLW1 sediment cores. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.859983
  6. Hodson, TO; Powell, R; Brachfield, S et al. (2016): 4.5. Natural remanent magnetization of SLW1 sediment cores. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.859985
  7. Hodson, TO; Powell, R; Brachfield, S et al. (2016): 4.1. High resolution XRF elemental composition of sediment core SLW1_PC1. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.859980
  8. Hodson, TO; Powell, R; Brachfield, S et al. (2016): 4.2. Bulk density and magnetic susceptibility of sediment core SLW1_PC1. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.859977
  9. Hodson, TO; Powell, R; Brachfield, S et al. (2016): 4.5. Principal Component Analysis calculation of best fit line for multiple demagnetization steps in order to determine the inclination and declination of SLW1 sediment cores. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.859984
  10. Hodson, TO; Powell, R; Brachfield, S et al. (2016): 4.2. Bulk density and magnetic susceptibility of sediment core SLW1_PEC1. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.859976
  11. Hodson, TO; Powell, R; Brachfield, S et al. (2016): 4.3. Particle size distributions of SLW1 sediment cores. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.859982
  12. Hodson, TO; Powell, R; Brachfield, S et al. (2016): 4.1. High resolution XRF elemental composition of sediment core SLW1_SLW_MC1A. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.859978
  13. Hodson, TO; Powell, R; Brachfield, S et al. (2016): 4.2. Bulk density and magnetic susceptibility of sediment core SLW1_SLW_MC1A. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.859973
  14. Hodson, TO; Powell, R; Brachfield, S et al. (2016): 4.1. High resolution XRF elemental composition of sediment core SLW1_SLW_MC3A. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.859979
  15. Hodson, TO; Powell, R; Brachfield, S et al. (2016): 4.2. Bulk density and magnetic susceptibility of sediment core SLW1_SLW_MC3A. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.859975