The 21st-century Weddell Sea hosing experiment: Causes and consequences

• Main Authors: Hellmer, Hartmut, Timmermann, Ralph, Kauker, Frank, Schröder, Michael
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: Filchner Ronne Ice Shelf; Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf; Ice Shelf; Ronne Ice Shelf; Weddell Sea
• Online Access: https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/30730/; https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/30730/1/FRISP_Book_of_Abstracts_May22.pdf; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.39663; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.39663.d001

Simulations with the circumpolar coupled ice-ocean model (BRIOS) forced with the A1B atmospheric output of the Hadley Centre climate model HadCM3 revealed a sudden (within a decade) increase of Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf (FRIS) basal melting from 0.2 m/yr (82 Gt/yr) to almost 4 m/yr (1600 Gt/yr) in the late 21st century, due to a redirection of the coastal current in the southeastern Weddell Sea. The enhanced freshwater input of 51 mSv (1x103 m3/s) represents more than an order of magnitude increase relative to the FRIS melt flux calculated for present day conditions. In this talk we discuss the causes for and the manifold consequences such freshwater 'hosing' has for Weddell Sea's ice conditions and hydrology with special emphasis on the shelf water characteristics and related deep and bottom water formation.