How hot is Antarctica? Constraining crustal heat production

Abstract

Antarctica is more influential in relation to sea level rise and has a lower level of outcrop than any other continent on the planet. The main factor in Antarctica’s influence on sea level is its reaction to the warming oceans surrounding it, and this is influenced by basement heat flux and crustal heat production. In this study, a new Gamma Ray Spectrometry method was developed and calibrated to allow the fast, accurate calculation of a rock’s heat production through analysis of the smallest of hand samples without destroying the samples themselves. The method is applied to a large collection of hand samples collected throughout Antarctica. The resulting data are compiled into a dataset of Antarctic bedrock geochemistry and compared to ice flow velocity of similar areas in an attempt to give insight into the influence of crustal heat production on ice flow velocity and Antarctica’s reaction to global warming. Although the dataset is subject to bias based on a lack of objectivity during collection, it can be argued that a basic correlation can be seen between heat production and ice flow velocity. Comparing heat production values to geological ages also shows that younger rock types generally have higher heat production values than those of the Proterozoic or Archaean eras.