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:qt05k6g4jg 2023-05-15T13:53:13+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 http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/05k6g4jg english eng eScholarship, University of California qt05k6g4jg http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/05k6g4jg Attribution (CC BY): http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ CC-BY Dutrieux, P; Stewart, C; Jenkins, A; Nicholls, KW; Corr, HFJ; Rignot, E; et al.(2014). Basal terraces on melting ice shelves. Geophysical Research Letters, 41(15), 5506 - 5513. doi:10.1002/2014GL060618. UC Irvine: Retrieved from: http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/05k6g4jg article 2014 ftcdlib https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GL060618 2017-09-29T22:51:31Z 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 Geophysical Research Letters 41 15 5506 5513 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of California: eScholarship |
op_collection_id |
ftcdlib |
language |
English |
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 |
spellingShingle |
Dutrieux, P Stewart, C Jenkins, A Nicholls, KW Corr, HFJ Rignot, E Steffen, K Basal terraces on melting ice shelves |
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 |
http://www.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 |
Dutrieux, P; Stewart, C; Jenkins, A; Nicholls, KW; Corr, HFJ; Rignot, E; et al.(2014). Basal terraces on melting ice shelves. Geophysical Research Letters, 41(15), 5506 - 5513. doi:10.1002/2014GL060618. UC Irvine: Retrieved from: http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/05k6g4jg |
op_relation |
qt05k6g4jg http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/05k6g4jg |
op_rights |
Attribution (CC BY): http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GL060618 |
container_title |
Geophysical Research Letters |
container_volume |
41 |
container_issue |
15 |
container_start_page |
5506 |
op_container_end_page |
5513 |
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1766258186038280192 |