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Abstract. The discovery of Antarctica's deepest subglacial troughbeneath the Denman Glacier, combined with high rates of basal melt at thegrounding line, has caused significant concern over its vulnerability toretreat. Recent attention has therefore been focusing on understanding thecontrols driving Denman Glacier's dynamic evolution. Here we consider theShackleton system, comprised of the Shackleton Ice Shelf, Denman Glacier,and the adjacent Scott, Northcliff, Roscoe and Apfel glaciers, about whichalmost nothing is known. We widen the context of previously observed dynamicchanges in the Denman Glacier to the wider region of the Shackleton system,with a multi-decadal time frame and an improved biannual temporal frequencyof observations in the last 7 years (2015–2022). We integrate newsatellite observations of ice structure and airborne radar data with changesin ice front position and ice flow velocities to investigate changes in thesystem. Over the 60-year period of observation we find significant riftpropagation on the Shackleton Ice Shelf and Scott Glacier and notablestructural changes in the floating shear margins between the ice shelf andthe outlet glaciers, as well as features indicative of ice with elevatedsalt concentration and brine infiltration in regions of the system. Over theperiod 2017–2022 we observe a significant increase in ice flow speed (up to50 %) on the floating part of Scott Glacier, coincident with small-scalecalving and rift propagation close to the ice front. We do not observe anyseasonal variation or significant change in ice flow speed across the restof the Shackleton system. Given the potential vulnerability of the system toaccelerating retreat into the overdeepened, potentially sediment-filledbedrock trough, an improved understanding of the glaciological,oceanographic and geological conditions in the Shackleton system arerequired to improve the certainty of numerical model predictions, and weidentify a number of priorities for future research. With access to theseremote coastal regions a major challenge, coordinated internationallycollaborative efforts are required to quantify how much the Shackletonregion is likely to contribute to sea level rise in the coming centuries. 

Abstract. Radio-echo sounding (RES) has revealed an internal architecture within Antarctica’s ice sheets that records their depositional, deformational and melting histories. Crucially, spatially-widespread RES-imaged internal-reflecting horizons, tied to ice-core age-depth profiles, can be treated as isochrones that record the age-depth structure across the Antarctic ice sheets. These enable the reconstruction of past climate and ice-dynamical processes on large scales, which are complementary to but more spatially-extensive than commonly used proxy records across Antarctica. We review progress towards building a pan-Antarctic age-depth model from these data by first introducing the relevant RES datasets that have been acquired across Antarctica over the last six decades (focussing specifically on those that detected internal-reflecting horizons), and outlining the processing steps typically undertaken to visualise, trace and date (by intersection with ice cores, or modelling) the RES-imaged isochrones. We summarise the scientific applications to which Antarctica’s internal architecture has been applied to date and present a pathway to expanding Antarctic radiostratigraphy across the continent to provide a benchmark for a wider range of investigations: (1) Identification of optimal sites for retrieving new ice-core palaeoclimate records targeting different periods; (2) Reconstruction of surface mass balance on millennial or historical timescales; (3) Estimates of basal melting and geothermal heat flux from radiostratigraphy and comprehensively mapping basal-ice units, to complement inferences from other geophysical and geological methods; (4) Advancing knowledge of volcanic activity and fallout across Antarctica; (5) The refinement of numerical models that leverage radiostratigraphy to tune time-varying accumulation, basal melting and ice flow, firstly to reconstruct past behaviour, and then to reduce uncertainties in projecting future ice-sheet behaviour.