Calving and rifting on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica
On 2 March 2016, several small en échelon tabular icebergs calved from the seaward front of the McMurdo Ice Shelf, and a previously inactive rift widened and propagated by ~3 km, ~25% of its previous length, setting the stage for the future calving of a ~14 km2 iceberg. Within 24 h of these events,...
Published in: | Annals of Glaciology |
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Cambridge University Press
2017
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2017.12 https://doaj.org/article/504432a5c88943a8ac32d826d6bbcf9a |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:504432a5c88943a8ac32d826d6bbcf9a 2023-05-15T13:29:31+02:00 Calving and rifting on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica Alison F. Banwell Ian C. Willis Grant J. Macdonald Becky Goodsell David P. Mayer Anthony Powell Douglas R. Macayeal 2017-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2017.12 https://doaj.org/article/504432a5c88943a8ac32d826d6bbcf9a EN eng Cambridge University Press https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S026030551700012X/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0260-3055 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5644 doi:10.1017/aog.2017.12 0260-3055 1727-5644 https://doaj.org/article/504432a5c88943a8ac32d826d6bbcf9a Annals of Glaciology, Vol 58, Pp 78-87 (2017) Antarctic glaciology iceberg calving ice-shelf break-up ice shelves Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 article 2017 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2017.12 2023-03-12T01:31:57Z On 2 March 2016, several small en échelon tabular icebergs calved from the seaward front of the McMurdo Ice Shelf, and a previously inactive rift widened and propagated by ~3 km, ~25% of its previous length, setting the stage for the future calving of a ~14 km2 iceberg. Within 24 h of these events, all remaining land-fast sea ice that had been stabilizing the ice shelf broke-up. The events were witnessed by time-lapse cameras at nearby Scott Base, and put into context using nearby seismic and automatic weather station data, satellite imagery and subsequent ground observation. Although the exact trigger of calving and rifting cannot be identified definitively, seismic records reveal superimposed sets of both long-period (>10 s) sea swell propagating into McMurdo Sound from storm sources beyond Antarctica, and high-energy, locally-sourced, short-period (<10 s) sea swell, in the 4 days before the fast ice break-up and associated ice-shelf calving and rifting. This suggests that sea swell should be studied further as a proximal cause of ice-shelf calving and rifting; if proven, it suggests that ice-shelf stability is tele-connected with far-field storm conditions at lower latitudes, adding a global dimension to the physics of ice-shelf break-up. Article in Journal/Newspaper Annals of Glaciology Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Iceberg* McMurdo Ice Shelf McMurdo Sound Sea ice Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic McMurdo Ice Shelf ENVELOPE(166.500,166.500,-78.000,-78.000) McMurdo Sound Scott Base ENVELOPE(166.766,166.766,-77.849,-77.849) Annals of Glaciology 58 75pt1 78 87 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Antarctic glaciology iceberg calving ice-shelf break-up ice shelves Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
spellingShingle |
Antarctic glaciology iceberg calving ice-shelf break-up ice shelves Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 Alison F. Banwell Ian C. Willis Grant J. Macdonald Becky Goodsell David P. Mayer Anthony Powell Douglas R. Macayeal Calving and rifting on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Antarctic glaciology iceberg calving ice-shelf break-up ice shelves Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
description |
On 2 March 2016, several small en échelon tabular icebergs calved from the seaward front of the McMurdo Ice Shelf, and a previously inactive rift widened and propagated by ~3 km, ~25% of its previous length, setting the stage for the future calving of a ~14 km2 iceberg. Within 24 h of these events, all remaining land-fast sea ice that had been stabilizing the ice shelf broke-up. The events were witnessed by time-lapse cameras at nearby Scott Base, and put into context using nearby seismic and automatic weather station data, satellite imagery and subsequent ground observation. Although the exact trigger of calving and rifting cannot be identified definitively, seismic records reveal superimposed sets of both long-period (>10 s) sea swell propagating into McMurdo Sound from storm sources beyond Antarctica, and high-energy, locally-sourced, short-period (<10 s) sea swell, in the 4 days before the fast ice break-up and associated ice-shelf calving and rifting. This suggests that sea swell should be studied further as a proximal cause of ice-shelf calving and rifting; if proven, it suggests that ice-shelf stability is tele-connected with far-field storm conditions at lower latitudes, adding a global dimension to the physics of ice-shelf break-up. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Alison F. Banwell Ian C. Willis Grant J. Macdonald Becky Goodsell David P. Mayer Anthony Powell Douglas R. Macayeal |
author_facet |
Alison F. Banwell Ian C. Willis Grant J. Macdonald Becky Goodsell David P. Mayer Anthony Powell Douglas R. Macayeal |
author_sort |
Alison F. Banwell |
title |
Calving and rifting on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica |
title_short |
Calving and rifting on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica |
title_full |
Calving and rifting on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Calving and rifting on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Calving and rifting on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica |
title_sort |
calving and rifting on the mcmurdo ice shelf, antarctica |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2017.12 https://doaj.org/article/504432a5c88943a8ac32d826d6bbcf9a |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(166.500,166.500,-78.000,-78.000) ENVELOPE(166.766,166.766,-77.849,-77.849) |
geographic |
Antarctic McMurdo Ice Shelf McMurdo Sound Scott Base |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic McMurdo Ice Shelf McMurdo Sound Scott Base |
genre |
Annals of Glaciology Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Iceberg* McMurdo Ice Shelf McMurdo Sound Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Annals of Glaciology Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Iceberg* McMurdo Ice Shelf McMurdo Sound Sea ice |
op_source |
Annals of Glaciology, Vol 58, Pp 78-87 (2017) |
op_relation |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S026030551700012X/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0260-3055 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5644 doi:10.1017/aog.2017.12 0260-3055 1727-5644 https://doaj.org/article/504432a5c88943a8ac32d826d6bbcf9a |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2017.12 |
container_title |
Annals of Glaciology |
container_volume |
58 |
container_issue |
75pt1 |
container_start_page |
78 |
op_container_end_page |
87 |
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1766001008606969856 |