Quantifying dissolution rates of Antarctic icebergs in open water
Abstract At any one time 130 000 icebergs are afloat in the Southern Ocean; 97% of these are too small to be registered in current satellite-based databases, yet the melting of these small icebergs provides a major input to the Southern Ocean. We use a unique set of visual size observations of 53 00...
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/aog.2023.26 2024-06-09T07:38:27+00:00 Quantifying dissolution rates of Antarctic icebergs in open water Orheim, Olav Giles, A. Barry Jacka, T. H. (Jo) Moholdt, Geir 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/aog.2023.26 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0260305523000265 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Annals of Glaciology page 1-11 ISSN 0260-3055 1727-5644 journal-article 2023 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2023.26 2024-05-15T13:07:34Z Abstract At any one time 130 000 icebergs are afloat in the Southern Ocean; 97% of these are too small to be registered in current satellite-based databases, yet the melting of these small icebergs provides a major input to the Southern Ocean. We use a unique set of visual size observations of 53 000 icebergs in the South Atlantic Ocean, the SCAR International Iceberg Database, to derive average iceberg dissolution rates. Fracture into two parts is the dominant dissolution process for tabular icebergs, with an average half-life of 30 days for icebergs <4 km length and 60 days for larger icebergs. Complete shatter producing many icebergs <1 km length is rare. A side attrition rate of 0.23 m d −1 combined with drift speed of 6 km d −1 , or any proportional change in both numbers fits the observed changes in iceberg distribution. The largest injection into the Southern Ocean of fresh water and any iceberg-transported material takes place in a ~2.3 × 10⁶ km 2 zone extending east-northeast from the Antarctic Peninsula to the Greenwich meridian. The iceberg contribution to salinities and temperatures, with maximum contribution north of the Weddell Sea, differs in some regions, from those indicated by tracking large icebergs. Article in Journal/Newspaper Annals of Glaciology Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Iceberg* South Atlantic Ocean Southern Ocean Weddell Sea Cambridge University Press Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Greenwich Southern Ocean The Antarctic Weddell Weddell Sea Annals of Glaciology 1 11 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract At any one time 130 000 icebergs are afloat in the Southern Ocean; 97% of these are too small to be registered in current satellite-based databases, yet the melting of these small icebergs provides a major input to the Southern Ocean. We use a unique set of visual size observations of 53 000 icebergs in the South Atlantic Ocean, the SCAR International Iceberg Database, to derive average iceberg dissolution rates. Fracture into two parts is the dominant dissolution process for tabular icebergs, with an average half-life of 30 days for icebergs <4 km length and 60 days for larger icebergs. Complete shatter producing many icebergs <1 km length is rare. A side attrition rate of 0.23 m d −1 combined with drift speed of 6 km d −1 , or any proportional change in both numbers fits the observed changes in iceberg distribution. The largest injection into the Southern Ocean of fresh water and any iceberg-transported material takes place in a ~2.3 × 10⁶ km 2 zone extending east-northeast from the Antarctic Peninsula to the Greenwich meridian. The iceberg contribution to salinities and temperatures, with maximum contribution north of the Weddell Sea, differs in some regions, from those indicated by tracking large icebergs. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Orheim, Olav Giles, A. Barry Jacka, T. H. (Jo) Moholdt, Geir |
spellingShingle |
Orheim, Olav Giles, A. Barry Jacka, T. H. (Jo) Moholdt, Geir Quantifying dissolution rates of Antarctic icebergs in open water |
author_facet |
Orheim, Olav Giles, A. Barry Jacka, T. H. (Jo) Moholdt, Geir |
author_sort |
Orheim, Olav |
title |
Quantifying dissolution rates of Antarctic icebergs in open water |
title_short |
Quantifying dissolution rates of Antarctic icebergs in open water |
title_full |
Quantifying dissolution rates of Antarctic icebergs in open water |
title_fullStr |
Quantifying dissolution rates of Antarctic icebergs in open water |
title_full_unstemmed |
Quantifying dissolution rates of Antarctic icebergs in open water |
title_sort |
quantifying dissolution rates of antarctic icebergs in open water |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/aog.2023.26 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0260305523000265 |
geographic |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Greenwich Southern Ocean The Antarctic Weddell Weddell Sea |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Greenwich Southern Ocean The Antarctic Weddell Weddell Sea |
genre |
Annals of Glaciology Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Iceberg* South Atlantic Ocean Southern Ocean Weddell Sea |
genre_facet |
Annals of Glaciology Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Iceberg* South Atlantic Ocean Southern Ocean Weddell Sea |
op_source |
Annals of Glaciology page 1-11 ISSN 0260-3055 1727-5644 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2023.26 |
container_title |
Annals of Glaciology |
container_start_page |
1 |
op_container_end_page |
11 |
_version_ |
1801372973422084096 |