Rates and Mechanisms of Iceberg Ablation in the D’Urville Sea, Southern Ocean
Abstract Wave action causes ablation in a narrow zone around an iceberg’s waterline, at up to 0.3 m per day, in water of −1°C with waves up to 0.4 m high. Subsequent subaerial calving of ice from iceberg sides takes place up to a similar rate. Submarine melting is an order of magnitude slower than w...
| Published in: | Journal of Glaciology |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1984
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000005955 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000005955 |
| Summary: | Abstract Wave action causes ablation in a narrow zone around an iceberg’s waterline, at up to 0.3 m per day, in water of −1°C with waves up to 0.4 m high. Subsequent subaerial calving of ice from iceberg sides takes place up to a similar rate. Submarine melting is an order of magnitude slower than wave action but acts over the largest part of an iceberg. Ablation rates derived theoretically or statistically elsewhere for comparable environmental conditions, are in reasonable agreement with those measured here. Drifting icebergs trail a plume of mixed, slightly cooled and diluted sea-water in their wake. |
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