BEDMAP ice-thickness database - 93263573830877

Data describing the thickness of the Antarctic ice sheet collected on surveys
undertaken over the past 50 years have been brought together into a single
database. These data have allowed the compilation of a suite of seamless
digital topographic models for the Antarctic continent and surrounding ocean.
The suite includes grids representing:
* ice-sheet thickness over the ice sheet and shelves
* water-column thickness beneath the floating ice shelves
* bed elevation beneath the grounded ice sheet
* bathymetry to 60?S including the areas beneath the ice shelves.

These grids are consistent with a recent high-resolution surface elevation
model of Antarctica. While the digital models have a nominal spatial resolution
of 5 km, such high resolution is not strictly justified by the original data
density over all parts of the ice sheet. The suite does however provide an
unparalleled vision of the geosphere beneath the ice sheet and a more reliable
basis for ice sheet modelling. The bed elevation DEM, which includes the entire
geosphere south of 60?S, provides an improved delineation of the boundary of
the boundary between East and West Antarctica and sheds new light on the
morphology of the contiguous East Antarctic landmass, much of which is buried
below an average of 2500 m of ice.

The database is available at the following URL:
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/index.php