Formation of sea ice ponds from ice-shelf runoff, adjacent to the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Abstract Ponds that form on sea ice can cause it to thin or break-up, which can promote calving from an adjacent ice shelf. Studies of sea ice ponds have predominantly focused on Arctic ponds formed by in situ melting/ponding. Our study documents another mechanism for the formation of sea ice ponds....
Published in: | Annals of Glaciology |
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/aog.2020.9 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0260305520000099 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/aog.2020.9 2024-06-09T07:38:00+00:00 Formation of sea ice ponds from ice-shelf runoff, adjacent to the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica Macdonald, Grant J. Popović, Predrag Mayer, David P. 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/aog.2020.9 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0260305520000099 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Annals of Glaciology volume 61, issue 82, page 73-77 ISSN 0260-3055 1727-5644 journal-article 2020 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2020.9 2024-05-15T13:02:53Z Abstract Ponds that form on sea ice can cause it to thin or break-up, which can promote calving from an adjacent ice shelf. Studies of sea ice ponds have predominantly focused on Arctic ponds formed by in situ melting/ponding. Our study documents another mechanism for the formation of sea ice ponds. Using Landsat 8 and Sentinel-2 images from the 2015–16 to 2018–19 austral summers, we analyze the evolution of sea ice ponds that form adjacent to the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica. We find that each summer, meltwater flows from the ice shelf onto the sea ice and forms large (up to 9 km 2 ) ponds. These ponds decrease the sea ice's albedo, thinning it. We suggest the added mass of runoff causes the ice to flex, potentially promoting sea-ice instability by the ice-shelf front. As surface melting on ice shelves increases, we suggest that ice-shelf surface hydrology will have a greater effect on sea-ice stability. Article in Journal/Newspaper albedo Annals of Glaciology Antarc* Antarctica Arctic Ice Shelf Ice Shelves McMurdo Ice Shelf Sea ice Cambridge University Press Arctic Austral McMurdo Ice Shelf ENVELOPE(166.500,166.500,-78.000,-78.000) Annals of Glaciology 61 82 73 77 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Ponds that form on sea ice can cause it to thin or break-up, which can promote calving from an adjacent ice shelf. Studies of sea ice ponds have predominantly focused on Arctic ponds formed by in situ melting/ponding. Our study documents another mechanism for the formation of sea ice ponds. Using Landsat 8 and Sentinel-2 images from the 2015–16 to 2018–19 austral summers, we analyze the evolution of sea ice ponds that form adjacent to the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica. We find that each summer, meltwater flows from the ice shelf onto the sea ice and forms large (up to 9 km 2 ) ponds. These ponds decrease the sea ice's albedo, thinning it. We suggest the added mass of runoff causes the ice to flex, potentially promoting sea-ice instability by the ice-shelf front. As surface melting on ice shelves increases, we suggest that ice-shelf surface hydrology will have a greater effect on sea-ice stability. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Macdonald, Grant J. Popović, Predrag Mayer, David P. |
spellingShingle |
Macdonald, Grant J. Popović, Predrag Mayer, David P. Formation of sea ice ponds from ice-shelf runoff, adjacent to the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica |
author_facet |
Macdonald, Grant J. Popović, Predrag Mayer, David P. |
author_sort |
Macdonald, Grant J. |
title |
Formation of sea ice ponds from ice-shelf runoff, adjacent to the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica |
title_short |
Formation of sea ice ponds from ice-shelf runoff, adjacent to the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica |
title_full |
Formation of sea ice ponds from ice-shelf runoff, adjacent to the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Formation of sea ice ponds from ice-shelf runoff, adjacent to the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Formation of sea ice ponds from ice-shelf runoff, adjacent to the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica |
title_sort |
formation of sea ice ponds from ice-shelf runoff, adjacent to the mcmurdo ice shelf, antarctica |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/aog.2020.9 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0260305520000099 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(166.500,166.500,-78.000,-78.000) |
geographic |
Arctic Austral McMurdo Ice Shelf |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Austral McMurdo Ice Shelf |
genre |
albedo Annals of Glaciology Antarc* Antarctica Arctic Ice Shelf Ice Shelves McMurdo Ice Shelf Sea ice |
genre_facet |
albedo Annals of Glaciology Antarc* Antarctica Arctic Ice Shelf Ice Shelves McMurdo Ice Shelf Sea ice |
op_source |
Annals of Glaciology volume 61, issue 82, page 73-77 ISSN 0260-3055 1727-5644 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2020.9 |
container_title |
Annals of Glaciology |
container_volume |
61 |
container_issue |
82 |
container_start_page |
73 |
op_container_end_page |
77 |
_version_ |
1801383812702142464 |