• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.51-60
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• 2010

To determine subglacial topography and internal features of the Fourcade Glacier on King George Island in Antarctica, helicopter-borne and ground-towed ground-penetrating radar (GPR) data were recorded along four profiles in November 2006. Signature deconvolution, f-k migration velocity analysis, and finite-difference depth migration applied to the mixed-phase, single-channel, ground-towed data, were effective in increasing vertical resolution, obtaining the velocity function, and yielding clear depth images, respectively. For the helicopter-borne GPR, migration velocities were obtained as root-mean-squared velocities in a two-layer model of air and ice. The radar sections show rugged subglacial topography, englacial sliding surfaces, and localised scattering noise. The maximum depth to the basement is over 79m in the subglacial valley adjacent to the south-eastern slope of the divide ridge between Fourcade and Moczydlowski Glaciers. In the ground-towed profile, we interpret a complicated conduit above possible basal water and other isolated cavities, which are a few metres wide. Near the terminus, the GPR profiles image sliding surfaces, fractures, and faults that will contribute to the tidewater calving mechanism forming icebergs in Potter Cove.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.557-567
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• 2003

High-resolution (3.5 kHz) subbottom profiles were analyzed in order to reveal sedimentation pattern of late Quaternary in the northern South Shetland continental margin and the South Scotia Sea, Antarctica. On the basis of clarity, continuity and geometry of surface and subbottom echoes together with seafloor topography, high-resolution echo characters are classified into eight echo types which represent rock basements (echo type III-1), coarse-grained subglacial till or moraine (echo type I-1), slides/slumps (echo type IV), debris-flow deposits (echo types II-3 and III-2), and bottom-current deposits (echo types I-2, II-1 and II-2). Subglacial till or moraine (echo type I-1) is mostly present in the lower continental shelf and upper continental slope of the northern South Shetland continental margin, which changes downslope to slides/slumps (echo type IV) and debris-flow deposits (echo types II-3 and III-2) in the middle to lower continental slope. This distribution suggests that the continental slopes of the northern South Shetland continental margin were mostly affected by downslope gravitational processes. Further downslope, bottom-current sediments (echo type I-2) deposited by the southwestward flowing Antarctic Deep Water (ADW) occur at the South Shetland Trench, reflecting an Interaction between mass flows and bottom currents in the area. In contrast to the northern South Shetland continental margin, the South Scotia Sea is dominated by bottom-current deposits (echo types II-1 and II-2), indicating that the sedimentation was mostly controlled by the westward flowing ADW. Flow intensity of the ADW has increased in the relative topographic highs, forming thin covers of coarse-grained contourites (echo type II-1), whereas it has decreased in the relative topographic lows, depositing thick, fine-grained contourites (echo type II-2). The poor development of wave geometry in the fine-grained bottom-current deposits (echo type II-2) is suggestive of the unsteady nature of the ADW flow.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2004

Sedimentary facies and high-resolution echo facies were analyzed to elucidate sedimentation pattern of the late Quaternary glacial-marine deposits in the northern continental margin of the South Shetland Islands. Six sedimentary facies are classified, based on grain texture and sedimentary structures in gravity cores. The high-resolution (3.5 ㎑) echo characters are classified into 6 echo facies on the basis of clarity, continuity, and shape of bottom and subbottom echoes together with seafloor topography. Distribution of the echo and sedimentary facies suggest that there was a significant change in sedimentation pattern between the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and subsequent glacier-retreating period. When the grounded glaciers extended to the present shelfbreak during LGM, coarse-grained subglacial tills were widespread in the shelf area, and deep troughs in the shelf were carved beneath the fast-flowing ice steam. As the glacial margin retreated landward after LGM, dense meltwater plumes released from the retreating ice-front were funneled along the glacier-carved troughs, and accumulated channel- or cannyon-fill deposits in the shelf and the upper to mid slope. At that time, slope sediments seem to have been reworked by slope failures and unsteady contour currents, and further transported by fine-grained turbidity currents along the South Shetland Trench. After the glacial retreat, sediments in the shelf and slope areas have been mainly introduced by persistent (hemi) pelagic settling, and fine-grained turbidity currents frequently occur along the axis of the South Shetland Trench.