Summary
Aerogeophysical data obtained by the ICECAP project yield new insights into the basal topography and evidence of new subglacial lakes within the Aurora Subglacial Basin, East Antarctica. The new bed elevation map allows us to consider the flow paths of subglacial water. We show how basal topography affects the flow of water, and how this flow interacts with subglacial lakes. We also investigate geophysical data associated with regions of ice surface change, as derived from ICESaT measurements, to ascertain likely hydrological inputs to the system, and their drainage. Large-scale subglacial bedrock valleys, that are clearly resolved in the new topographic dataset, are shown to exhibit strong controls on the direction of subglacial water flow and on the routing of subglacial water from lakes beneath the thick ice in the interior of the Aurora Basin to the ice sheet margin via the beds of the fast flowing Totten and Vanderford glaciers. The influence of this basal water movement on ice sheet dynamics will be discussed.