Basal terraces on melting ice shelves
Ocean waters melt the margins of Antarctic and Greenland glaciers, and individual glaciers' responses and the integrity of their ice shelves are expected to depend on the spatial distribution of melt. The bases of the ice shelves associated with Pine Island Glacier (West Antarctica) and Peterma...
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ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org/ark:/13030/qt05k6g4jg 2023-05-15T13:39:57+02:00 Basal terraces on melting ice shelves Dutrieux, P Stewart, C Jenkins, A Nicholls, KW Corr, HFJ Rignot, E Steffen, K 5506 - 5513 2014-08-16 application/pdf https://escholarship.org/uc/item/05k6g4jg unknown eScholarship, University of California qt05k6g4jg https://escholarship.org/uc/item/05k6g4jg CC-BY CC-BY Geophysical Research Letters, vol 41, iss 15 cryosphere ice shelf-ocean interactions ocean ice Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences article 2014 ftcdlib 2020-03-20T23:55:51Z Ocean waters melt the margins of Antarctic and Greenland glaciers, and individual glaciers' responses and the integrity of their ice shelves are expected to depend on the spatial distribution of melt. The bases of the ice shelves associated with Pine Island Glacier (West Antarctica) and Petermann Glacier (Greenland) have similar geometries, including kilometer-wide, hundreds-of-meter high channels oriented along and across the direction of ice flow. The channels are enhanced by, and constrain, oceanic melt. New meter-scale observations of basal topography reveal peculiar glaciated landscapes. Channel flanks are not smooth, but are instead stepped, with hundreds-of-meters-wide flat terraces separated by 5-50m high walls. Melting is shown to be modulated by the geometry: constant across each terrace, changing from one terrace to the next, and greatly enhanced on the ∼45° inclined walls. Melting is therefore fundamentally heterogeneous and likely associated with stratification in the ice-ocean boundary layer, challenging current models of ice shelf-ocean interactions. Key Points Basal topography of melting ice shelves is complex Basal terraces appear ubiquitous under melting ice shelves Melting concentrates on walls between terraces © 2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica glacier Greenland Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Petermann glacier Pine Island Pine Island Glacier West Antarctica University of California: eScholarship Antarctic Greenland Pine Island Glacier ENVELOPE(-101.000,-101.000,-75.000,-75.000) West Antarctica |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of California: eScholarship |
op_collection_id |
ftcdlib |
language |
unknown |
topic |
cryosphere ice shelf-ocean interactions ocean ice Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences |
spellingShingle |
cryosphere ice shelf-ocean interactions ocean ice Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences Dutrieux, P Stewart, C Jenkins, A Nicholls, KW Corr, HFJ Rignot, E Steffen, K Basal terraces on melting ice shelves |
topic_facet |
cryosphere ice shelf-ocean interactions ocean ice Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences |
description |
Ocean waters melt the margins of Antarctic and Greenland glaciers, and individual glaciers' responses and the integrity of their ice shelves are expected to depend on the spatial distribution of melt. The bases of the ice shelves associated with Pine Island Glacier (West Antarctica) and Petermann Glacier (Greenland) have similar geometries, including kilometer-wide, hundreds-of-meter high channels oriented along and across the direction of ice flow. The channels are enhanced by, and constrain, oceanic melt. New meter-scale observations of basal topography reveal peculiar glaciated landscapes. Channel flanks are not smooth, but are instead stepped, with hundreds-of-meters-wide flat terraces separated by 5-50m high walls. Melting is shown to be modulated by the geometry: constant across each terrace, changing from one terrace to the next, and greatly enhanced on the ∼45° inclined walls. Melting is therefore fundamentally heterogeneous and likely associated with stratification in the ice-ocean boundary layer, challenging current models of ice shelf-ocean interactions. Key Points Basal topography of melting ice shelves is complex Basal terraces appear ubiquitous under melting ice shelves Melting concentrates on walls between terraces © 2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Dutrieux, P Stewart, C Jenkins, A Nicholls, KW Corr, HFJ Rignot, E Steffen, K |
author_facet |
Dutrieux, P Stewart, C Jenkins, A Nicholls, KW Corr, HFJ Rignot, E Steffen, K |
author_sort |
Dutrieux, P |
title |
Basal terraces on melting ice shelves |
title_short |
Basal terraces on melting ice shelves |
title_full |
Basal terraces on melting ice shelves |
title_fullStr |
Basal terraces on melting ice shelves |
title_full_unstemmed |
Basal terraces on melting ice shelves |
title_sort |
basal terraces on melting ice shelves |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/05k6g4jg |
op_coverage |
5506 - 5513 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-101.000,-101.000,-75.000,-75.000) |
geographic |
Antarctic Greenland Pine Island Glacier West Antarctica |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Greenland Pine Island Glacier West Antarctica |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica glacier Greenland Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Petermann glacier Pine Island Pine Island Glacier West Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica glacier Greenland Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Petermann glacier Pine Island Pine Island Glacier West Antarctica |
op_source |
Geophysical Research Letters, vol 41, iss 15 |
op_relation |
qt05k6g4jg https://escholarship.org/uc/item/05k6g4jg |
op_rights |
CC-BY |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
_version_ |
1766126392168153088 |