A subglacial melt-channel of Support Force Glacier

The Support Force Glacier, one of the large glacier feeding the Filchner Ice Shelf, shows in satellite imagery, e.g. derived from TerraSAR-X, a clear depression along its extension into the ice shelf. At other ice shelves, such features have shown to be subglacial channels. In coincidence a subglacial water routing model shows an outflow at the position of the observed channel and supports the assumption that the subglacial channel is rather caused by subglacial water drainage from the continent and intensified on the floating part. To investigate the nature of the channel in more detail and its implication on the subglacial mass loss of the ice shelf, an extensive phase sensitive radar (pRES) survey has been carried out with the aim to observe melt rates. This is part of the joint AWI-BAS project FISP/FISS that aims to measure current basal melt rates and ocean circulation below the Filchner Ice Shelf. The survey covers the channel with several cross profiles of an FMCW radar along its longitudinal axes, starting about 15 km downstream of the grounding line, and pointwise pRES measurement has been retrieved along the route. Two permanent combined pRES and GPS stations at the southern beginning of the survey profile, located just outside the channel and above the position showing the steepest slope of it, supplement the observations of subglacial melt in the investigated region, however, the data will be recovered only the upcoming field season