Evidence of Cascading Subglacial Water Flow at Jutulstraumen Glacier (Antarctica) Derived From Sentinel-1 and ICESat-2 Measurements
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4300-5488, Franke, Steven ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8462-4379, Helm, Veit ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7788-9328, Drews, Reinhard ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2328-294X and Jansen, Daniela ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4412-5820
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Migration of subglacial water underneath thick Antarctic ice is difficult to observe directly but is known to influence ice flow dynamics. Here, we analyze a 6-year time series of displacement maps from differential Sentinel-1 SAR interferometry (DInSAR) in the upstream region of Jutulstraumen Glacier. Our results reveal short-term (between 12 days and 1 year) interconnected subsidence- and uplift events of the ice surface, which we interpret as a pressure response to the drainage and filling of subglacial lakes. This indicates an episodic cascade-like water transport with longer quiescent phases in a dynamically stable glacial setting. Abrupt events appear in the DInSAR time series and are confirmed by ICESat-2 altimetry. The events can be traced for a 1-year period along a urn:x-wiley:00948276:media:grl63164:grl63164-math-0001175 km flow path. We are able to observe the migration of subglacial water with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution, providing a new observational baseline to further develop subglacial hydrological models.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4300-5488, Franke, Steven ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8462-4379, Helm, Veit ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7788-9328, Drews, Reinhard ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2328-294X and Jansen, Daniela ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4412-5820
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