On the Multiscale Oceanic Heat Transports Toward the Bases of the Antarctic Ice Shelves
The mass balance of the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) is important to global sea-level change. The AIS loses mass mainly through basal melting and subsequent calving of the Antarctic ice shelves. However, the simulated basal melting rates are very uncertain in ice sheet models, partially resulting from...
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American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
2023
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.34133/olar.0010 https://spj.science.org/doi/pdf/10.34133/olar.0010 |
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craaas:10.34133/olar.0010 2024-04-28T08:02:56+00:00 On the Multiscale Oceanic Heat Transports Toward the Bases of the Antarctic Ice Shelves Wang, Zhaomin Liu, Chengyan Cheng, Chen Qin, Qing Yan, Liangjun Qian, Jiangchao Sun, Chong Zhang, Li 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.34133/olar.0010 https://spj.science.org/doi/pdf/10.34133/olar.0010 en eng American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Research volume 2 ISSN 2771-0378 journal-article 2023 craaas https://doi.org/10.34133/olar.0010 2024-04-09T06:40:47Z The mass balance of the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) is important to global sea-level change. The AIS loses mass mainly through basal melting and subsequent calving of the Antarctic ice shelves. However, the simulated basal melting rates are very uncertain in ice sheet models, partially resulting from the poor understanding of oceanic heat transports. In this article, we review the recent progress in understanding and simulating such heat transports. Regulated by major circulation features, Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) is much closer to the Bellingshausen–Amundsen Seas and the Cooperation Sea (60°E to 90°E) and the sector further east to 160°E. The ice shelves within these sectors are experiencing enhanced basal melting resulting from tropical forcing and intensified westerlies. Around West Antarctica, the isopycnal structure favors the delivery of CDW across slopes and shelves, while around East Antarctica, the persistent and strong westward Antarctic Slope Current (Front) acts to prevent warm-water intrusion. Both eddies and troughs favor heat transport to the fronts of the ice shelves and even into the cavities. The sharp contrast between the water column thicknesses on both sides of ice shelf fronts blocks the barotropic inflows and can excite topographic Rossby waves. Inside the cavities, the heat fluxes to the bases of the ice shelves are controlled by the cavity geometry, the circulations in the cavities, and the properties of the water masses beneath the ice shelves. Limited direct observations of cavities have promoted the development of various models. To improve basal melting simulations, meltwater plume models have been developed to study meltwater-laden mixed layer dynamics by increasing the vertical resolution, with recent advanced studies considering the vertical structures of frazil ice concentration and velocity. To reduce the uncertainties in the simulated and projected basal mass loss of the Antarctic ice shelves, future efforts should be devoted to improving the bathymetry and cavity geometry, ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Cooperation Sea East Antarctica Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ice Shelves West Antarctica AAAS Resource Center (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Research |
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Open Polar |
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AAAS Resource Center (American Association for the Advancement of Science) |
op_collection_id |
craaas |
language |
English |
description |
The mass balance of the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) is important to global sea-level change. The AIS loses mass mainly through basal melting and subsequent calving of the Antarctic ice shelves. However, the simulated basal melting rates are very uncertain in ice sheet models, partially resulting from the poor understanding of oceanic heat transports. In this article, we review the recent progress in understanding and simulating such heat transports. Regulated by major circulation features, Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) is much closer to the Bellingshausen–Amundsen Seas and the Cooperation Sea (60°E to 90°E) and the sector further east to 160°E. The ice shelves within these sectors are experiencing enhanced basal melting resulting from tropical forcing and intensified westerlies. Around West Antarctica, the isopycnal structure favors the delivery of CDW across slopes and shelves, while around East Antarctica, the persistent and strong westward Antarctic Slope Current (Front) acts to prevent warm-water intrusion. Both eddies and troughs favor heat transport to the fronts of the ice shelves and even into the cavities. The sharp contrast between the water column thicknesses on both sides of ice shelf fronts blocks the barotropic inflows and can excite topographic Rossby waves. Inside the cavities, the heat fluxes to the bases of the ice shelves are controlled by the cavity geometry, the circulations in the cavities, and the properties of the water masses beneath the ice shelves. Limited direct observations of cavities have promoted the development of various models. To improve basal melting simulations, meltwater plume models have been developed to study meltwater-laden mixed layer dynamics by increasing the vertical resolution, with recent advanced studies considering the vertical structures of frazil ice concentration and velocity. To reduce the uncertainties in the simulated and projected basal mass loss of the Antarctic ice shelves, future efforts should be devoted to improving the bathymetry and cavity geometry, ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Wang, Zhaomin Liu, Chengyan Cheng, Chen Qin, Qing Yan, Liangjun Qian, Jiangchao Sun, Chong Zhang, Li |
spellingShingle |
Wang, Zhaomin Liu, Chengyan Cheng, Chen Qin, Qing Yan, Liangjun Qian, Jiangchao Sun, Chong Zhang, Li On the Multiscale Oceanic Heat Transports Toward the Bases of the Antarctic Ice Shelves |
author_facet |
Wang, Zhaomin Liu, Chengyan Cheng, Chen Qin, Qing Yan, Liangjun Qian, Jiangchao Sun, Chong Zhang, Li |
author_sort |
Wang, Zhaomin |
title |
On the Multiscale Oceanic Heat Transports Toward the Bases of the Antarctic Ice Shelves |
title_short |
On the Multiscale Oceanic Heat Transports Toward the Bases of the Antarctic Ice Shelves |
title_full |
On the Multiscale Oceanic Heat Transports Toward the Bases of the Antarctic Ice Shelves |
title_fullStr |
On the Multiscale Oceanic Heat Transports Toward the Bases of the Antarctic Ice Shelves |
title_full_unstemmed |
On the Multiscale Oceanic Heat Transports Toward the Bases of the Antarctic Ice Shelves |
title_sort |
on the multiscale oceanic heat transports toward the bases of the antarctic ice shelves |
publisher |
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.34133/olar.0010 https://spj.science.org/doi/pdf/10.34133/olar.0010 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Cooperation Sea East Antarctica Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ice Shelves West Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Cooperation Sea East Antarctica Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ice Shelves West Antarctica |
op_source |
Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Research volume 2 ISSN 2771-0378 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.34133/olar.0010 |
container_title |
Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Research |
_version_ |
1797574179894067200 |