Basal Roughness of the Princess Elizabeth Land, East Antarctica: Relationship With Subglacial Geomorphological Features and Ice Flow

Basal roughness is a crucial parameter for quantifying subglacial geomorphological landforms, which offers key insights into glacial geomorphic environments and ice sheet dynamics. Princess Elizabeth Land (PEL) in East Antarctica covers approximately 15% of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. However, to date, understanding the relationship between subglacial geomorphology and ice flow in the PEL has remained limited. In this study, we used airborne ice radar data from the Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition (CHINARE) during the first five austral seasons and publicly available Antarctica’s Gamburtsev Province (AGAP) Project North data to calculate a two-parameter spectral roughness index of the subglacial topography. We analyzed the relationship between the spatial distribution of basal roughness and the speed and direction of ice velocity, while classifying the regional roughness results into four different combinations. We find that the subglacial environment in the PEL is more intricate than the one previously reported. The area near the polar record glacier (PRG) is characterized by locally rough geomorphology but fast ice flow. The beds in the slow ice flow area of PEL are characterized by both rough and flat landforms. Low-lying basins situated in the interior are of considerable interest because they may be characterized by preglacial active erosional landscapes.