Thursday, 30 August 2007 - 1:30 PM
4.P1.A-1
New aerogeophysical survey targets the extent of the West Antarctic Rift System over Ellsworth Land
Fausto Ferraccioli1, Tom A. Jordan1, D. G. Vaughan1, John W. Holt2, M. James3, H. Corr1, Donald D. Blankenship2, J.D. Fairhead3, and Theresa M. Diehl2. (1) Geological Sciences Division, British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, United Kingdom, (2) Institute for Geophysics, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, J.J. Pickle Research Campus, Bldg. 196, 10100 Burnet Road, Austin, TX 78758, (3) School of Earth & Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is currently undergoing rapid change in particular over the Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE). Previous aerogeophysical investigations over the Ross Sea Embayment reveal that the underlying geology may modulate ice sheet dynamics and hence stability. But what are the interplays between sub-ice geology and the apparently thinning and retreating glaciers of the ASE region? We will present new aerogeophysical data to provide a window on the “lithospheric cradle” for this part of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, thereby contributing towards studying the largest glaciated continental rift system on Earth, the West Antarctic Rift System.