Deglacial hypsometry of Antarctica |
| |
| Authors: | J Graham Cogley |
| |
| Institution: | Department of Geography, Trent University, Peterborough, Ont. K9J 7B8 Canada |
| |
| Abstract: | A new and more detailed analysis of the hypsometry of the Antarctic continent, based upon 1° digital data on ice thickness and surface and subglacial elevations, shows that Antarctica, even when deglaciated according to a simple Airy-isostatic model, is an unusual continent. It is the only one with a markedly bimodal hypsometric curve, and separation of the two modes shows that they are the single modes of West Antarctica (at ?450 m a.s.1.) and East Antarctica (at 950 m a.s.1.) respectively; the two parts of the continent are probably distinct tectonic entities. The modal height of East Antarctica is 700 m higher than that of the global ensemble of continents, suggesting that hotspot epeirogeny or a less well-known mechanism has affected its recent history. The age of this modal-height anomaly has important tectonic and especially climatic implications: it is equivalent to a 4–6°C cooling of the continental surface. The area of dry land after deglaciation is 10.5 × 106 km2; the volume of ice in Antarctica is estimated at 26.9 × 106 km3, and of ice in the Northern Hemisphere at 2.5 × 106 km3; these figures lead to a eustatic sea-level equivalent for present-day glacier ice of 68 m or somewhat less. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
| 本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录！ |
|
