TYTAN

High-resolution multichannel seismic profiles have been collected in January–March 2017 by OGS on the continental rise off the Sabrina Coast (East Antarctica). The data were acquired as part of the Italian Program of Antarctic Research (PNRA) TYTAN “Totten Glacier dynamics and Southern Ocean circulation impact on depositional processes since the Mid- to Late Cenozoic” project (PI: F. Donda-OGS) during the Australian Marine National Facility survey IN2017-V01 on board the RV Investigator. TYTAN was embedded in to the Australian project "Interactions of the Totten Glacier with the Southern Ocean through multiple glacial cycles” that aimed to understand the interaction of Totten Glacier and its ice drainage basin with the Southern Ocean during periods of warming and ice-sheet retreat in the Pleistocene and Holocene. In order to achieve these scientific objectives, three areas were identified for the geophysical and oceanographic survey: two on the continental slope and rise off Sabrina Coast and one on the continental shelf, which was not investigated because it remained covered by sea ice throughout the season. Expanded and well-preserved sedimentary successions imaged on the TYTAN seismic data highlight the potential of this region for deep ocean drilling, which will provide unprecedented history of the glaciers evolution in the Aurora Basin and their sensitivity to climate change under different background state conditions. In fact, TYTAN seismic data played a crucial role in the identification of potential drilling sites for the IODP 1002 Proposal “Totten Glacier Climate Vulnerability under varying Neogene climate conditions: Lessons for East Antarctic Ice Sheet climate sensitivity” (under review).