Relevance of field observations as boundary conditions for understanding ice-sheet-ocean interactions

• Main Authors: Eisen, Olaf, Smith, Emma C., Schannwell, Clemens, Eisermann, Hannes, Hattermann+, Tore, Zeising, Ole, Ötting, Astrid, Berger, Sophie, Hofstede, Coen, Drews, Reinhard, Ehlers, Todd, Mayer, Christoph, Lambrecht, Astrid, Gromig, Raphael, Kuhn, Gerhard, Tiedemann, Ralf, Wilhelms, Frank, Läufer, Andreas, Franke, Dieter, Gaedicke, Christoph, Pattyn, Frank
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: Antarctic; Dronning Maud Land; Ekström Ice Shelf; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice Sheet; Ice Shelf; Ice Shelves
• Online Access: https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/52324/; https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/52324/1/20200616_oeisen_DML_ice-ocean.pdf; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.9a02710b-5b14-4bb4-bdbb-48102f3d817a; https://hdl.handle.net/

The direct contact of warm ocean water with the front and base of ice shelves is the main driver for accelerated mass loss of the Antarctic ice sheet. We present a compilation of observations from various projects and methodological approaches applied over the last decade along the Dronning Maud Land coast and highlight their importance for understanding the ice-ocean interactions. With a focus on the Ekström ice shelf, these include spatially continuous seismic observations in combination with airborne gravity inversion to yield sub-shelf bathymetry and geomorphological evidence of past ice-flow activity; ice-dynamic numerical modelling to investigate the role of seafloor/subglacial substrate characteristics to enhance or reduce ice-sheet extent and advance/retreat rates; sub-shelf CTD measurements to determine ocean properties driving basal melting; satellitebased remote sensing to determine ice-shelf height changes and spatially-distributed basal melting; and point measurements of basal melt with surface-based phase-sensitive radar to determine ocean-driven melt and validate remote-sensing products. As the Dronning Maud Land coast plays a critical role in preconditioning the water mass of the coastal current before it enters the Filcher ice-shelf cavity, we argue that a coordinated inter- and transdisciplinary observational network is required to facilitate monitoring a potential ice-sheet mass loss in this part of Antarctica.