Impact of the Mertz Glacier Tongue calving on dense water formation and export

• Published in: Nature Communications
• Main Authors: Kusahara, Kazuya, Hasumi, Hiroyasu, Williams, Guy Darvall
• Other Authors: Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute Kashiwa-shi (AORI), The University of Tokyo (UTokyo), Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2011
• Subjects: [PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-GEO-PH]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Geophysics [physics.geo-ph]; [SDU.STU.GP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geophysics [physics.geo-ph]; Antarctic; East Antarctica; Mertz Glacier; George V Land; Mertz Glacier Tongue; Australian Antarctic Basin; Australian-Antarctic Basin; Antarc*; Antarctica; Iceberg*; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00755141; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00755141/document; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00755141/file/ncomms1156.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1038/NCOMMS1156

International audience Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) is a critical component of the global climate system, occupying the abyssal layer of the World Ocean and driving the lower limb of the global meridional overturning circulation. Around East Antarctica, the dense shelf water (DSW) precursor to AABW is predominantly formed by enhanced sea ice formation in coastal polynyas. The dominant source region of AABW supply to the Australian-Antarctic Basin is the Adélie and George V Land coast, in particular, polynyas formed in the western lee of the Mertz Glacier Tongue (MGT) and the grounded iceberg B9b over the Adélie and the Mertz Depressions, respectively. The calving of the MGT, which occurred on 12-13 February 2010, dramatically changed the environment for producing DSW. Here, we assess its impact using a state-of-the-art ice-ocean model. The model shows that oceanic circulation and sea ice production in the region changes immediately after the calving event, and that the DSW export is reduced by up to 23%.