Abstract
Lake CookE2, upstream of Cook Glacier in East Antarctica, is an “active” subglacial lake that experiences episodic discharge and recharge of basal water. Although around 130 active lakes are known to exist, the majority are not able to be identified by ice-sounding radar techniques, suggesting they are ephemeral and/or distributed stores of small amounts of water rather than permanent significant singular features. However, airborne radar data from Lake CookE2 reveal a bright and flat ice-bed interface, providing clear evidence of deep (>10 m) water surrounded by elevated topography. The data show the lake area is ∼46 km2; three times less than a previous estimate (145 km2) from Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) satellite altimetry, suggesting a bias in identifying subglacial lake area from surface depressions. Using time-series altimetry from ICESat, Cryosat-2, and the Reference Elevation Model of Antarctica, we re-estimate the lake discharged ∼2.73 km3 of water (or ∼59.6 m in lake level) between February 2006 and October 2008. Subsequently, the ice surface over the lake rose steadily and experienced a mean uplift of ∼9 m between January 2011 and November 2016, indicating continuous recharge with total volume increase of ∼0.42 km3. The lake is recharging at a rate of ∼1.1 m/year, which means it could take another ∼39 years to reach the lake level that triggered the previous discharge.
Introduction
Lake CookE2, located at the head of Cook Glacier in Wilkes Land (Figure 1), is an “active” Antarctic subglacial lake. Evidence for this is drawn from the significant surface depression that occurred during 2006–2008 (), interpreted as a sudden loss of basal water. The ice surface lowered by ∼70 m in just 2 years (), due to the largest discharge of basal water measured in Antarctica thus far. Surface depressions with such an amplitude are easily captured by satellite altimetry and/or InSAR techniques (). So far, 129 active subglacial lakes have been identified in Antarctica according to this interpretation, and they featured in the latest inventory of Antarctic subglacial lakes ().
FIGURE 1
Lake CookE2 was discovered from ice-surface altimetry more than a decade ago by
Airborne radar sounding is a valuable means of mapping topography and conditions at the base of the ice sheet. For example, radar echoes from subglacial water bodies >10 m in depth are commonly characterized by bright, flat and specular features (
Materials and Methods
In brief, we use data from the MCoRDS5 radar to examine the ice-bed interface over the Lake CookE2 region, to first determine whether the lake exists and then to measure its topographic setting. We also combine a new ice-surface elevation model, REMA (see below), with ICESat and Cryosat-2 SwSARIn data to generate a long-term time-series of ice-surface height change from 2003 to 2016, to understand how the lake has behaved in recent years.
Multichannel Coherent Radar Depth Sounder 5 airborne radar data were acquired over the Lake CookE2 on November 29, 2017 during an IceBridge mission. The radar frequency over this region is 300 MHz. Three transects, 009, 010, and 011 (black and red lines in Figure 1), were obtained over Lake CookE2. We use the MCoRDS5 Level 1B data from Centre for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS), University of Kansas1, which include necessary geophysical parameters such as geodetic coordinates, range travel-time, aircraft elevation, surface interface travel-time and bottom interface travel-time. Radar echoes from a clear ice-water interface typically show bright and flat returns that are distinct compared with echoes from an ice-rock interface that undulate and have variable but generally weaker strengths. This distinction has been used to identify pooled subglacial water of at least 10 m in depth across the ice sheet (
Antarctic surface elevation models have been generated from recent satellite altimetry missions (
Ice-surface height measurements from two satellite altimetry missions, ICESat (between February 2003 and October 2009) and Cryosat-2 (between November 2010 and December 2016), are combined and then differenced with REMA to construct a 13-year record of topography-free ice-surface height change. ICESat was the first satellite laser altimetry mission to measure surface elevation over land and seas, with a precision of ∼15 cm (
By combining an accurate reference elevation model and dense satellite altimetry measurements, we can construct a long-term time-series of ice-surface height change over Lake CookE2. We use an adapted method based on previous studies (
For Cryosat-2 measurements, we construct monthly ice-surface height differences in four steps as follows. First, we confine our study area within a new outline for Lake CookE2 (based on ice-penetrating radar – see below; red dashed line in Figure 1), to generate an ice-surface height change time-series for the lake. SwSARIn measurements within the lake outline are collected for each month. Second, we collect all elevation measurements for each month. If the number of measurements is less than an empirical value of ∼8000 in a particular month, the measurements are discarded and further processing is not be conducted. This is because limited numbers of measurements are likely to introduce a bias in the ice-surface change derivation, especially if data filtering is applied. After initial examination, the REMA is interpolated at each SwSARIn point collected during a month period to obtain the “topography-free” ice-surface height change with respect to the reference elevation model. Three-sigma rule is iteratively used to filter out unreliable height differences in each group. The mean of the filtered height differences is used to represent height changes relative to the elevation model over the lake area. The process is iteratively implemented for each month. Third, we use a −1.5 m (Cryosat-2 minus ICESat) (
We estimate the long-term change in ice-surface height using Cryosat-2 data by a quadratic model as follows:
where h is the ice-surface height measurement, t is the measurement time, a1 ∼ a5 are coefficients of the terrain model, and a6 and a7 denote linear model coefficients of ice-surface change during study period. x and y are coordinates in the Polar Stereographic South projection.
Results and Discussion
Airborne Ice Penetrating Radar
We present three radar transects across Lake CookE2 (Figure 2). In each, a bright and smooth bed feature can be observed, typical of an ice-water interface, surrounded by undulating returns and overlain by ∼1700 m of ice. The unbroken nature of the basal reflector indicates that the water must be at least 10 m deep (
FIGURE 2

Three airborne radar transects across Lake CookE2. They are sequentially numbered by 20171129_04_009 (a), 20171129_04_010 (b), and 20171129_04_011 (c). In each image, red lines denote the tracked ice-bed interface out of lake outline determined by ICESat; blue lines denote ice-bed interface within lake outline determined by ICESat; and white lines denote lake length identified by radar and the ICESat repeat-pass method (
Several active subglacial lakes identified by satellite altimetry show no clear evidence of being classic deep-water lakes with bright and smooth radar returns at ice-bed interface (
In the radar transects, only the middle of the uplifted area contains a bright and smooth base, revealing that the lake outline as identified formerly by satellite altimetry alone is significantly wider than the actual lake beneath. During the discharge, ice directly below the lake lowered significantly due to the loss of basal water on the order of tens of meters. Forced by gravity, the surrounding ice would then flow toward the lake interior, resulting in a depressed surface surrounding the actual lake. Therefore, ice surface lowering is not only caused by collapse of ice immediately above the lake, but also by increased ice flow into the former lake area.
To identify the outline of Lake CookeE2,
Temporal and Spatial Characterization of Ice-Surface Height Change
Using ICESat and Cryosat-2 data, we construct a time-series of ice-surface height change over Lake CookE2 between September 2003 and November 2016 (Figure 3a). From February 2006 to October 2008, the ice surface lowered ∼59.6 m, indicating (assuming conservation of volume) ∼2.73 km3 of water was discharged from the lake. Between January 2011 and November 2016, the ice surface rose steadily at a rate of ∼1.1 m/year. The ice-surface began to rise in early 2011, ∼2 years after a drainage event had finished, and continued to do so in the subsequent 6 years. If we assume this rate of recharge is maintained in future, it would take another ∼39 years for the lake to reach the level associated with its previous discharge. Using the lake area derived by ice-penetrating radar, we estimate that the volume of water in CookE2 increased by ∼0.42 km3 in this time. At the same time, we find significant annual variability in ice-surface heights; lowest around January and greatest around May-July in each year.
FIGURE 3

Temporal and spatial characterization of ice-surface height change in the Lake CookE2 region. (a) Ice-surface height temporal change within the outline of Lake CookE2 from September 2003 to November 2016, from ICESat and Cryosat-2 data. Black lines and blue lines denote the ice-surface change differenced with REMA. Gray regions denote uncertainty in the ice-surface change. (b) Ice-surface height change surrounding Lake CookE2 between December 2010 and December 2016, by Cryosat-2. The red dashed line denotes boundary of Lake CookE2 from ice-penetrating radar.
Previous research has confirmed an association between the annual change in ice-surface heights, observed by satellite altimetry, with surface accumulation of snow in Antarctica based on firn-densification modeling (
Basal Water Flow Sensitivity to Ice-Surface Height Change
Using the latest ice surface and bed data from BedMachine Antarctica, we calculate the hydraulic potential (Figures 4A,B) for Lake CookE2 and its locale (
FIGURE 4

Ice-surface and water flux differences from two data-driven hydraulic potential estimates surrounding Lake CookE2. (A) Hydropotential-driven water flux derived by BedMachine (
Before the discharge, Lake CookE2 contributed water to downstream hydrological networks. When the lake began to refill after the drainage, basal flow paths on the east side of the lake combined with a tributary downstream of Lake CookE2 (Figure 4B). A comparison between these two states shows that the water flow changed as a consequence of the discharge event (Figure 4D). Hence, subglacial lake dynamics appear to have an influence on the basal hydrology outside of the immediate lake boundary.
Source of Water in Lake CookE2
Given that Lake CookE2 is receiving substantial levels of water over long periods, we can ask where the water originates. To frame the problem we calculate the water storage balance in Lake CookE2. From 2011 to 2016, water in the lake increased at a rate of ∼0.052 ± 0.008 km3/year. Conceptually, water from a variety of sources can contribute to water increase in Lake CookE2, such as basal melt, groundwater in till layers and hydrologic reservoirs. The mean basal melt rate over Lake CookE2 is ∼6–7 mm/year (from ice-sheet modeling) potentially contributing ∼0.005 km3/year of water to the lake (
Conclusion
We have confirmed, using ice-penetrating radar data, that Subglacial Lake CookE2 in East Antarctica (an active subglacial lake) is similar in its physiography to many stable deep-water lakes that are contained by steep-sided topography. Combining ICESat and Cryosat-2 SwSARIn data from 2003 to 2016, and the high resolution elevation model REMA, we constructed a long-term time-series of topography-free ice-surface height change. We found that the surface elevation over the lake kept rising at a rate of ∼1.1 m/year following a drainage event. We used this rate of recharge to calculate that it would take another ∼39 years for the lake to reach the level associated with its previous discharge. We also investigated the spatial distribution of ice-surface change over 2011–2016, confirming consistency with the new lake area outline defined by ice-penetrating radar, and that previous assessments of lake area from ICESat are overestimated by as much as six times. By comparing basal water flux before and after a drainage event, we showed that water flow is sensitive to ice-surface height change in Lake CookE2, and that water discharged by active subglacial lakes can perturb subglacial hydrology at a regional scale. In addition, we revealed that periodical filling in Lake CookE2 is associated with water input from an upstream hydrologic catchment that is up to three times the lake surface area.
Statements
Data availability statement
ICESat DEM, elevation data and BedMachine data are available at National Snow and Ice Data Center; Cryosat-2 SwSARIn data are available at British Antarctic Survey; REMA data are available at Polar Geospatial Center in University of Minnesota; MCoRDS5 data are available at Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets. The datasets presented in this study can be found in online repositories. The names of the repository/repositories and accession number(s) can be found below: https://github.com/yanli2020stone/Lake-CookE2-outline.
Author contributions
YLi and YLu designed the experiment and wrote the manuscript. MS improved the writing and provided advice on estimate of new lake area, ice-surface height change, and sensitivity of subglacial hydrology to ice-surface height changes. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.
Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41674085 and 41774022) and the Basic Frontier Science Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. ZDBS-LY-DQC028).
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the editor AH and the reviewers AB and MT for their insightful comments and suggestions.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Footnotes
1.^CReSIS. 2018. MCoRDS Level 1B, Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Digital Media. http://data.cresis.ku.edu/.
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Summary
Keywords
airborne ice penetrating radar, satellite altimetry, Lake CookE2, active lake, deep-water, drainage and refill
Citation
Li Y, Lu Y and Siegert MJ (2020) Radar Sounding Confirms a Hydrologically Active Deep-Water Subglacial Lake in East Antarctica. Front. Earth Sci. 8:294. doi: 10.3389/feart.2020.00294
Received
03 April 2020
Accepted
23 June 2020
Published
14 July 2020
Volume
8 - 2020
Edited by
Alun Hubbard, Arctic University of Norway, Norway
Reviewed by
Adam Booth, University of Leeds, United Kingdom; Martin Truffer, University of Alaska Fairbanks, United States
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Copyright
© 2020 Li, Lu and Siegert.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Yan Li, liyan@asch.whigg.ac.cn
This article was submitted to Cryospheric Sciences, a section of the journal Frontiers in Earth Science
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