Ice Shelves

• Main Author: Jenkins, Adrian
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: Wiley 2017
• Subjects: Ice Sheet; Ice Shelf; Ice Shelves
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781118786352.wbieg0526; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2F9781118786352.wbieg0526; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/9781118786352.wbieg0526

Ice shelves are the floating parts of an ice sheet that is grounded below sea level. Since they are in contact with both atmosphere and ocean, they are sensitive indicators of climate change. Surface melting can drive ice shelf breakup, while progressive thinning is driven primarily by basal melting into the underlying ocean. Surface waters in the polar oceans are typically cooled to freezing point, so the thermal energy required to melt the ice shelves is contained in subsurface layers where the elevated pressure lowers the freezing point, in particular where waters that have been isolated from the surface retain the effects of past heating in the subtropics. Changes in the thickness and extent of the ice shelves have a direct impact on the flow of the inland ice sheet, and hence on global sea levels.