Abstract. Subglacial water plays an important role in ice sheet dynamics and stability. It is often located at the onset of ice streams and has the potential to enhance ice flow downstream by lubricating the ice-bed interface. The most recent subglacial lake inventory of Antarctica mapped nearly 400 lakes, of which ~ 14 % are found in West Antarctica. Despite the potential importance of subglacial water for ice dynamics, there is a lack of detailed subglacial water characterization in West Antarctica. Using radio-echo sounding data, we analyse the ice-bed interface to detect subglacial lakes. We report 37 previously uncharted subglacial lakes and present a systematic analysis of their physical properties. This represents a ~ 60 % increase in subglacial lakes in the region. Additionally, a new digital elevation model of basal topography was built and used to create a detailed hydropotential model of Ellsworth Subglacial Highlands to simulate the subglacial hydrological network. This approach allows us to characterize basal hydrology, subglacial water catchments and connections between them. Furthermore, the simulated subglacial hydrological catchments of Rutford Ice Stream, Pine Island Glacier and Thwaites Glacier do not match precisely with their ice surface catchments.

Abstract. Subglacial water plays an important role in ice sheet dynamics and stability. Subglacial lakes are often located at the onset of ice streams and have been hypothesised to enhance ice flow downstream by lubricating the ice–bed interface. The most recent subglacial-lake inventory of Antarctica mapped nearly 400 lakes, of which ∼ 14 % are found in West Antarctica. Despite the potential importance of subglacial water for ice dynamics, there is a lack of detailed subglacial-water characterisation in West Antarctica. Using radio-echo sounding data, we analyse the ice–bed interface to detect subglacial lakes. We report 33 previously uncharted subglacial lakes and present a systematic analysis of their physical properties. This represents a ∼ 40 % increase in subglacial lakes in West Antarctica. Additionally, a new digital elevation model of basal topography of the Ellsworth Subglacial Highlands was built and used to create a hydropotential model to simulate the subglacial hydrological network. This allows us to characterise basal hydrology, determine subglacial water catchments and assess their connectivity. We show that the simulated subglacial hydrological catchments of the Rutford Ice Stream, Pine Island Glacier and Thwaites Glacier do not correspond to their ice surface catchments.

Although over 600 Antarctic subglacial lakes have been identified using radar and satellite observations, the bathymetry and bed properties, which are key to understanding conditions within the lake, have been determined in very few localities. We present measurements of water column thickness and lakebed properties from Lago Subglacial CECs (SLC), located beneath 2653 m of ice at the Rutford-Institute-Minnesota divide in Antarctica. Seismic profiles indicate a maximum water column thickness of 301.3 ± 1.5 m, at the widest part of the lake, with an estimated lake volume of 2.5 ± 0.3 km3. Seismic imaging and measurements of the reflection strength at the ice base and lakebed indicate >15 m of high-porosity fine-grained sediment in the central section of the lakebed, consistent with a depositional sequence with an age of up to 0.5 Ma. These observations, along with previous radar measurements and modelling, indicate a low-energy sedimentary environment with a long water-residence time. As such, SLC is a suitable target for exploration via direct access to recover sediment records of ice sheet and climate history and investigate microbial life with long periods of isolation.

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