Investigating the impact of ocean warming on Antarctic ice shelves ...

• Main Author: Gwyther, DE
• Format: Thesis
• Language: unknown
• Published: University Of Tasmania 2023
• Subjects: Antarctic; Buttress; Southern Ocean; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice Sheet; Ice Shelves
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.25959/23238788.v1; https://figshare.utas.edu.au/articles/thesis/Investigating_the_impact_of_ocean_warming_on_Antarctic_ice_shelves/23238788/1

The Antarctic ice sheet contains enough ice to raise global sea levels by over 50 metres. The stability of the Antarctic ice sheet and subsequently, projections of future sea level rise, depends strongly on interactions with the Southern Ocean. The ice sheet begins to oat around the coastal margins of Antarctica, forming floating ice shelves. These ice shelves buttress the flow of ice sheets into the ocean, and control contributions to sea level rise. Changes to the thickness of ice shelves, such as through melting at the base (basal melting), is thus a critically important factor controlling Antarctic ice discharge, and future sea level. Scientists and field technicians are limited logistically in their ability to observe basal melting in situ and so numerical modelling, such as with the Regional Ocean Modelling System (ROMS), forms an important tool for investigating these critical environments. In order to produce credible modelling results, key uncertainties in modelling must first be addressed. One such ...