Complex mesoscale landscapes beneath Antarctica mapped from space.
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| Title: | Complex mesoscale landscapes beneath Antarctica mapped from space. |
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| Authors: | Ockenden, Helen (AUTHOR), Bingham, Robert G. (AUTHOR), Goldberg, Daniel (AUTHOR), Curtis, Andrew (AUTHOR), Morlighem, Mathieu (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Science. 1/15/2026, Vol. 391 Issue 6782, p314-319. 6p. |
| Subjects: | Topography, Geomorphology, Ice mechanics, Antarctic climate, Remote sensing, Ice sheets, Glaciology, Climate change |
| Geographic Terms: | Antarctica, Antarctic Ice Sheet (Antarctica) |
| Abstract: | The landscape shrouded by the Antarctic Ice Sheet provides important insights into its history and influences the ice response to climate forcing. However, knowledge of this critical boundary has depended on interpolation between irregularly distributed geophysical surveys, creating major spatial biases in maps of Antarctica's subglacial landscape. As stress changes associated with ice flow over bedrock obstacles produce ice surface topography, recently acquired, high-resolution satellite maps of the ice surface offer a transformative basis for mapping subglacial landforms. We present a continental-scale elevation map of Antarctica's subglacial topography produced by applying the physics of ice flow to ice surface maps and incorporating geophysical ice thickness observations. Our results enrich understanding of mesoscale (2 to 30 kilometers) subglacial landforms and unmask the spatial distribution of subglacial roughness and geomorphology. Editor's summary: What do we know about the landscapes beneath the ice of Antarctica? Less than we know about Mercury. To map the continent's subglacial topography, Ockenden et al. developed a way to invert ice surface satellite data based on the physics of how ice gets perturbed when flowing over bedrock features (see the Perspective by Young). Their map unveils a variety of terrains, including high-relief alpine valleys, scoured lowlands, and deeply eroded ice stream troughs. The landscapes are more varied than presumed by earlier site-specific geophysical surveys, and the newly resolved topography will help to refine projections of ice loss and sea level rise. —Angela Hessler [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Abstract: | The landscape shrouded by the Antarctic Ice Sheet provides important insights into its history and influences the ice response to climate forcing. However, knowledge of this critical boundary has depended on interpolation between irregularly distributed geophysical surveys, creating major spatial biases in maps of Antarctica's subglacial landscape. As stress changes associated with ice flow over bedrock obstacles produce ice surface topography, recently acquired, high-resolution satellite maps of the ice surface offer a transformative basis for mapping subglacial landforms. We present a continental-scale elevation map of Antarctica's subglacial topography produced by applying the physics of ice flow to ice surface maps and incorporating geophysical ice thickness observations. Our results enrich understanding of mesoscale (2 to 30 kilometers) subglacial landforms and unmask the spatial distribution of subglacial roughness and geomorphology. Editor's summary: What do we know about the landscapes beneath the ice of Antarctica? Less than we know about Mercury. To map the continent's subglacial topography, Ockenden et al. developed a way to invert ice surface satellite data based on the physics of how ice gets perturbed when flowing over bedrock features (see the Perspective by Young). Their map unveils a variety of terrains, including high-relief alpine valleys, scoured lowlands, and deeply eroded ice stream troughs. The landscapes are more varied than presumed by earlier site-specific geophysical surveys, and the newly resolved topography will help to refine projections of ice loss and sea level rise. —Angela Hessler [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 00368075 |
| DOI: | 10.1126/science.ady2532 |
