EASI-3 Expedition: Seabed Glacial Geomorphology Features on the East Antarctic Shelf

East Antarctic continental shelf between 85° E and 115° E, offshore of the Aurora subglacial basin and Shackleton Ice Shelf. More than 10,000 nautical miles of hydroacoustic data were collected during the RV Polarstern Expedition PS141 in February to April 2024, revealing submerged glacial features. Preliminary bathymetric and geomorphic mapping results were prepared for the Australian Antarctic Research Conference in November 2024.

Use Cases

• Model past glacier and ice sheet changes based on identified submerged glacial features
• Inform contemporary models of ocean-ice sheet interactions based on seabed topography data
• Extend the record of East Antarctic Ice Sheet fluctuations based on hydroacoustic survey results
• Analyze the impact of iceberg scours and grounding zone wedges on ocean circulation

Strengths

• More than 10,000 nautical miles of new hydroacoustic data collected
• Data reveals a variety of specific submerged glacial features (e.g., iceberg scours, mega-scale glacial lineations)
• Target area covers a defined geographic region between Wilhelm II to Wilkes Land

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Hydroacoustic data collection (continuous multibeam and sub-bottom profiles) from RV Polarstern expedition PS141

Time Range

Data collection from 6 Feb to 14 April 2024

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-05 04:29:07.811759; freshness should be verified

Geography

Parts of the Davis and Mawson Seas, East Antarctic continental shelf between 85° E and 115° E