Basal channels drive active surface hydrology and transverse ice shelf fracture
Ice shelves control sea-level rise through frictional resistance, which slows the seaward flow of grounded glacial ice. Evidence from around Antarctica indicates that ice shelves are thinning and weakening, primarily driven by warm ocean water entering into the shelf cavities. We have identified a m...
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ftdatacite:10.7916/d83v1128 2023-05-15T13:33:12+02:00 Basal channels drive active surface hydrology and transverse ice shelf fracture Dow, Christine F. Lee, Won Sang Greenbaum, Jamin S. Greene, Chad A. Blankenship, Donald D. Poinar, Kristin Forres, Alexander L. Young, Duncan Zappa, Christopher J. 2018 https://dx.doi.org/10.7916/d83v1128 https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/D83V1128 unknown Columbia University https://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aao7212 Ice shelves Sea ice--Environmental aspects Sea level Hydrology Text Articles article-journal ScholarlyArticle 2018 ftdatacite https://doi.org/10.7916/d83v1128 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aao7212 2021-11-05T12:55:41Z Ice shelves control sea-level rise through frictional resistance, which slows the seaward flow of grounded glacial ice. Evidence from around Antarctica indicates that ice shelves are thinning and weakening, primarily driven by warm ocean water entering into the shelf cavities. We have identified a mechanism for ice shelf destabilization where basal channels underneath the shelves cause ice thinning that drives fracture perpendicular to flow. These channels also result in ice surface deformation, which diverts supraglacial rivers into the transverse fractures. We report direct evidence that a major 2016 calving event at Nansen Ice Shelf in the Ross Sea was the result of fracture driven by such channelized thinning and demonstrate that similar basal channel–driven transverse fractures occur elsewhere in Greenland and Antarctica. In the event of increased basal and surface melt resulting from rising ocean and air temperatures, ice shelves will become increasingly vulnerable to these tandem effects of basal channel destabilization. Text Antarc* Antarctica Greenland Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Ross Sea Sea ice DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology) Ross Sea Greenland |
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Open Polar |
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DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology) |
op_collection_id |
ftdatacite |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Ice shelves Sea ice--Environmental aspects Sea level Hydrology |
spellingShingle |
Ice shelves Sea ice--Environmental aspects Sea level Hydrology Dow, Christine F. Lee, Won Sang Greenbaum, Jamin S. Greene, Chad A. Blankenship, Donald D. Poinar, Kristin Forres, Alexander L. Young, Duncan Zappa, Christopher J. Basal channels drive active surface hydrology and transverse ice shelf fracture |
topic_facet |
Ice shelves Sea ice--Environmental aspects Sea level Hydrology |
description |
Ice shelves control sea-level rise through frictional resistance, which slows the seaward flow of grounded glacial ice. Evidence from around Antarctica indicates that ice shelves are thinning and weakening, primarily driven by warm ocean water entering into the shelf cavities. We have identified a mechanism for ice shelf destabilization where basal channels underneath the shelves cause ice thinning that drives fracture perpendicular to flow. These channels also result in ice surface deformation, which diverts supraglacial rivers into the transverse fractures. We report direct evidence that a major 2016 calving event at Nansen Ice Shelf in the Ross Sea was the result of fracture driven by such channelized thinning and demonstrate that similar basal channel–driven transverse fractures occur elsewhere in Greenland and Antarctica. In the event of increased basal and surface melt resulting from rising ocean and air temperatures, ice shelves will become increasingly vulnerable to these tandem effects of basal channel destabilization. |
format |
Text |
author |
Dow, Christine F. Lee, Won Sang Greenbaum, Jamin S. Greene, Chad A. Blankenship, Donald D. Poinar, Kristin Forres, Alexander L. Young, Duncan Zappa, Christopher J. |
author_facet |
Dow, Christine F. Lee, Won Sang Greenbaum, Jamin S. Greene, Chad A. Blankenship, Donald D. Poinar, Kristin Forres, Alexander L. Young, Duncan Zappa, Christopher J. |
author_sort |
Dow, Christine F. |
title |
Basal channels drive active surface hydrology and transverse ice shelf fracture |
title_short |
Basal channels drive active surface hydrology and transverse ice shelf fracture |
title_full |
Basal channels drive active surface hydrology and transverse ice shelf fracture |
title_fullStr |
Basal channels drive active surface hydrology and transverse ice shelf fracture |
title_full_unstemmed |
Basal channels drive active surface hydrology and transverse ice shelf fracture |
title_sort |
basal channels drive active surface hydrology and transverse ice shelf fracture |
publisher |
Columbia University |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://dx.doi.org/10.7916/d83v1128 https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/D83V1128 |
geographic |
Ross Sea Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Ross Sea Greenland |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica Greenland Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Ross Sea Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica Greenland Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Ross Sea Sea ice |
op_relation |
https://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aao7212 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7916/d83v1128 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aao7212 |
_version_ |
1766039513526697984 |