Characterizing three-dimensional features of Antarctic subglacial lakes from the inversion of hydraulic potential—Lake Vostok as a case study

To estimate basal water storage beneath the Antarctic ice sheet, it is essential to have data on the three-dimensional characteristics of subglacial lakes. We present a method to estimate the water depth and surface area of Antarctic subglacial lakes from the inversion of hydraulic potential method. Lake Vostok is chosen as a case study because of the diverse and comprehensive measurements that have been obtained over and around the lake. The average depth of Lake Vostok is around 345±4 m. We estimated the surface area of Lake Vostok beneath the ice sheet to be about 13300±594 km2. The lake consists of two sub-basins separated by a ridge at water depths of about 200–300 m. The surface area of the northern sub-basin is estimated to be about half of that of the southern basin. The maximum depths of the northern and southern sub-basins are estimated to be about 450 and 850 m, respectively. Total water volume is estimated to be about 4658±204 km3. These estimates are compared with previous estimates obtained from seismic data and inversion of aerogravity data. In general, our estimates are closer to those obtained from the inversion of aerogravity data than those from seismic data, indicating the applicability of our method to the estimation of water depths of other subglacial lakes