Oceanic and volcanic heat converge in a subglacial channel of the Kamb Ice Stream in West Antarctica

Peter Washam; Britney E. Schmidt; Brice Loose; Huw J. Horgan; Craig L. Stewart; Craig L. Stevens; Justin D. Lawrence; Christina L. Hulbe; Andrew D. Mullen; Enrica S. Quartini; Benjamin Hurwitz

doi:10.1038/s43247-026-03508-w

Oceanic and volcanic heat converge in a subglacial channel of the Kamb Ice Stream in West Antarctica

Peter Washam, Britney E. Schmidt, Brice Loose, Huw J. Horgan, Craig L. Stewart, Craig L. Stevens, Justin D. Lawrence, Christina L. Hulbe, Andrew D. Mullen, Enrica S. Quartini, …

Communications earth & environment, Vol.7, 522

17/04/2026

: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-03508-w

https://hdl.handle.net/10523/50726

Cryospheric science

Physical oceanography

Antarctica

Melting from oceanic heat and basal lubrication from subglacial freshwater are fundamental elements of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet mass balance that are poorly constrained. The ice streams feeding the Ross Ice Shelf grounding line periodically start and stall over decadal to century timescales due to shifts in these forcings. Here, we present in situ hydrographic measurements, noble gas abundances, and helium isotope ratios from a large subglacial channel melted into the base of the stagnant Kamb Ice Stream. These data identify an outflowing plume containing Subglacial Freshwater admixture from upstream volcanic activity and anomalously warm inflowing seawater containing Circumpolar Deep Water from the Ross Sea, with oceanic heat delivery outpacing that from volcanism. Our results directly quantify both variables that affect the mass balance of the Ross Ice Shelf’s sensitive interconnected ice streams and highlight the vulnerability of this region of West Antarctica to increased forcing from a warming climate.

(2)

pdf

s43247-026-03508-w2.88 MB

Published (Version of record) Open Access

url

https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-03508-w

Published (Version of record)

: 9926863175301891
: Oceanic and volcanic heat converge in a subglacial channel of the Kamb Ice Stream in West Antarctica
: Peter Washam
Britney E. Schmidt
Brice Loose
Huw J. Horgan
Craig L. Stewart
Craig L. Stevens
Justin D. Lawrence
Christina L. Hulbe
Andrew D. Mullen
Enrica S. Quartini
Benjamin Hurwitz
: School of Surveying
: Communications earth & environment, Vol.7, 522
: Springer Nature
: 17/04/2026
: New Zealand Antarctic Research Institute; Aotearoa New Zealand Antarctic Science Platform; Victoria University of Wellington Hot Water Drilling initiative; ANTA1801 Antarctic Science Platform and ASP-021-01 Antarctic Ice Dynamics Project / Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment; NSF Office of Polar Programs grant (NSF-2152742); NSF Office of Chemical Oceanography Program grant (NSF-214873); Royal Society of New Zealand Rutherford Discovery Fellowship (RDF-VUW1602)
: Copyright © The Author(s) 2026. This work was first published in Communications Earth & Environment (Springer Nature). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly attributed to the creator(s) and the source, is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way, and a link to the Creative Commons license is provided.
: English
: Journal article