Pan-Antarctic assessment of ice shelf flexural responses to ocean waves

• Main Authors: Liang, Jie, Pitt, Jordan P.A, Bennetts, Luke George
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: Authorea, Inc. 2023
• Subjects: Antarctic; Wilkins; Antarc*; Ice Shelf; Ice Shelves; Iceberg*
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.22541/essoar.170365208.84369736/v1

Ice shelves flex in response to surface ocean waves, which imposes stresses and strains on the shelves that promote iceberg calving. Previous modelling studies of ice shelf responses to ocean waves have focussed on highly idealised geometries with uniform ice thickness and flat seabeds. This study leverages on a recently developed mathematical model that incorporates spatially varying geometries, combined with measured ice shelf thickness and seabed profiles, to conduct a statistical assessment of how fifteen Antarctic ice shelves respond to ocean waves over a broad range of relevant wave periods, from swell to infragravity waves to very long period waves. The results show the most extreme responses at a given wave period are generated by features in the ice shelves and/or seabed geometries, depending on the wave regime. Relationships are determined between the median ice shelf response and the median shelf front thickness or the median cavity depth. The findings provide further evidence of the role of ocean waves in large-scale calving events for certain ice shelves (particularly the Wilkins), indicate a possible role of ocean waves in calving events for other shelves (Larsen C and Conger), and the relationships determined provide a method to assess how ice shelf responses are evolving with climate change and project future scenarios.