Hard rocks and deep wetlands: characterizing the bed of Thwaites Glacier, Antarctica, from vibroseismic measurements

Hard rocks and deep wetlands: characterizing the bed of Thwaites Glacier, Antarctica, from vibroseismic measurements | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Hard rocks and deep wetlands: characterizing the bed of Thwaites Glacier, Antarctica, from vibroseismic measurements Ole Zeising, Olaf Eisen, Coen Hofstede, Alex Brisbourne, Ronan Agnew, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7638739/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 24 Apr, 2026 Read the published version in Communications Earth & Environment → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica is losing ice rapidly and is considered especially vulnerable to retreat, but predictions of its future remain limited by uncertainties about its subglacial properties. Here we show results from 344 km of vibroseismic surveys collected along and across the glacier. The data reveal a heterogeneous bed of elevated ridges with steep upstream-facing slopes that form crag-and-tail landforms resisting fast flow. Between these ridges lie basins filled with unconsolidated and consolidated sediments. We find that subglacial water is widespread, occurring in bed depressions and on topographic highs, including an active lake composed of tens of metres of water-saturated sediments. Across the glacier, the bed beneath the eastern margin is mostly hard but contains isolated pockets of softer material. These findings demonstrate current models do not capture the full complexity of the bed beneath Thwaites Glacier, where water-bearing sediments and steep basal slopes strongly affect ice flow and retreat. Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Cryospheric science Earth and environmental sciences/Solid Earth sciences/Geophysics Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SupplementZeisingetal.pdf Supplementary Information Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 24 Apr, 2026 Read the published version in Communications Earth & Environment → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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