Predicting the steady-state isochronal stratigraphy of ice shelves using observations and modeling
Ice shelves surrounding the Antarctic perimeter moderate ice discharge towards the ocean through buttressing. Ice-shelf evolution and integrity depend on the local surface accumulation, basal melting and on the spatially variable ice-shelf viscosity. These components of ice-shelf mass balance are of...
Published in: | The Cryosphere |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2022
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4763-2022 https://doaj.org/article/65e3196bbaa54ce0824b414c8587a8d4 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:65e3196bbaa54ce0824b414c8587a8d4 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:65e3196bbaa54ce0824b414c8587a8d4 2023-05-15T13:43:08+02:00 Predicting the steady-state isochronal stratigraphy of ice shelves using observations and modeling V. Višnjević R. Drews C. Schannwell I. Koch S. Franke D. Jansen O. Eisen 2022-11-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4763-2022 https://doaj.org/article/65e3196bbaa54ce0824b414c8587a8d4 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/16/4763/2022/tc-16-4763-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-16-4763-2022 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/65e3196bbaa54ce0824b414c8587a8d4 The Cryosphere, Vol 16, Pp 4763-4777 (2022) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4763-2022 2022-12-30T20:14:47Z Ice shelves surrounding the Antarctic perimeter moderate ice discharge towards the ocean through buttressing. Ice-shelf evolution and integrity depend on the local surface accumulation, basal melting and on the spatially variable ice-shelf viscosity. These components of ice-shelf mass balance are often poorly constrained by observations and introduce uncertainties in ice-sheet projections. Isochronal radar stratigraphy is an observational archive for the atmospheric, oceanographic and ice-flow history of ice shelves. Here, we predict the stratigraphy of locally accumulated ice on ice shelves with a kinematic forward model for a given atmospheric and oceanographic scenario. This delineates the boundary between local meteoric ice (LMI) and continental meteoric ice (CMI). A large LMI to CMI ratio hereby marks ice shelves whose buttressing strength is more sensitive to changes in atmospheric precipitation patterns. A mismatch between the steady-state predictions of the kinematic forward model and observations from radar can highlight inconsistencies in the atmospheric and oceanographic input data or be an indicator for a transient ice-shelf history not accounted for in the model. We discuss pitfalls in numerical diffusion when calculating the age field and validate the kinematic model with the full Stokes ice-flow model Elmer/Ice. The Roi Baudouin Ice Shelf (East Antarctica) serves as a test case for this approach. There, we find a significant east–west gradient in the LMI / CMI ratio. The steady-state predictions concur with observations on larger spatial scales ( >10 km), but deviations on smaller scales are significant, e.g., because local surface accumulation patterns near the grounding zone are underestimated in Antarctic-wide estimates. Future studies can use these mismatches to optimize the input data or to pinpoint transient signatures in the ice-shelf history using the ever growing archive of radar observations of internal ice stratigraphy. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ice Shelves The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic East Antarctica Roi Baudouin ENVELOPE(24.461,24.461,-70.438,-70.438) The Antarctic The Cryosphere 16 11 4763 4777 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 V. Višnjević R. Drews C. Schannwell I. Koch S. Franke D. Jansen O. Eisen Predicting the steady-state isochronal stratigraphy of ice shelves using observations and modeling |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Ice shelves surrounding the Antarctic perimeter moderate ice discharge towards the ocean through buttressing. Ice-shelf evolution and integrity depend on the local surface accumulation, basal melting and on the spatially variable ice-shelf viscosity. These components of ice-shelf mass balance are often poorly constrained by observations and introduce uncertainties in ice-sheet projections. Isochronal radar stratigraphy is an observational archive for the atmospheric, oceanographic and ice-flow history of ice shelves. Here, we predict the stratigraphy of locally accumulated ice on ice shelves with a kinematic forward model for a given atmospheric and oceanographic scenario. This delineates the boundary between local meteoric ice (LMI) and continental meteoric ice (CMI). A large LMI to CMI ratio hereby marks ice shelves whose buttressing strength is more sensitive to changes in atmospheric precipitation patterns. A mismatch between the steady-state predictions of the kinematic forward model and observations from radar can highlight inconsistencies in the atmospheric and oceanographic input data or be an indicator for a transient ice-shelf history not accounted for in the model. We discuss pitfalls in numerical diffusion when calculating the age field and validate the kinematic model with the full Stokes ice-flow model Elmer/Ice. The Roi Baudouin Ice Shelf (East Antarctica) serves as a test case for this approach. There, we find a significant east–west gradient in the LMI / CMI ratio. The steady-state predictions concur with observations on larger spatial scales ( >10 km), but deviations on smaller scales are significant, e.g., because local surface accumulation patterns near the grounding zone are underestimated in Antarctic-wide estimates. Future studies can use these mismatches to optimize the input data or to pinpoint transient signatures in the ice-shelf history using the ever growing archive of radar observations of internal ice stratigraphy. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
V. Višnjević R. Drews C. Schannwell I. Koch S. Franke D. Jansen O. Eisen |
author_facet |
V. Višnjević R. Drews C. Schannwell I. Koch S. Franke D. Jansen O. Eisen |
author_sort |
V. Višnjević |
title |
Predicting the steady-state isochronal stratigraphy of ice shelves using observations and modeling |
title_short |
Predicting the steady-state isochronal stratigraphy of ice shelves using observations and modeling |
title_full |
Predicting the steady-state isochronal stratigraphy of ice shelves using observations and modeling |
title_fullStr |
Predicting the steady-state isochronal stratigraphy of ice shelves using observations and modeling |
title_full_unstemmed |
Predicting the steady-state isochronal stratigraphy of ice shelves using observations and modeling |
title_sort |
predicting the steady-state isochronal stratigraphy of ice shelves using observations and modeling |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4763-2022 https://doaj.org/article/65e3196bbaa54ce0824b414c8587a8d4 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(24.461,24.461,-70.438,-70.438) |
geographic |
Antarctic East Antarctica Roi Baudouin The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic East Antarctica Roi Baudouin The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ice Shelves The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ice Shelves The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 16, Pp 4763-4777 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/16/4763/2022/tc-16-4763-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-16-4763-2022 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/65e3196bbaa54ce0824b414c8587a8d4 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4763-2022 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
11 |
container_start_page |
4763 |
op_container_end_page |
4777 |
_version_ |
1766185024536707072 |