Identification of ventilated and submarine glacial meltwaters in the Amundsen Sea, Antarctica, using noble gases

To delineate the glacial meltwater distribution, we used five noble gases for optimum multiparameter analysis (OMPA) of the water masses in the Dotson-Getz Trough (DGT), Amundsen Sea. The increased number of tracers allowed us to define potential source waters at the surface, which have not been pos...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in Marine Science
Main Authors: DongYoub Shin, Doshik Hahm, Tae-Wan Kim, Tae Siek Rhee, SangHoon Lee, Keyhong Park, Jisoo Park, Young Shin Kwon, Mi Seon Kim, Tongsup Lee
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Subjects:
glacial meltwater
noble gases
optimum multiparameter analysis
Amundsen Sea
basal melting
meteoric water
Science
Q
General. Including nature conservation
geographical distribution
QH1-199.5
Getz
Dotson Ice Shelf
Dotson-Getz Trough
Antarc*
Antarctica
Ice Shelf
Ice Shelves
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.951471
https://doaj.org/article/7df4d2d370ff405d90159b073850a80d
Description
Summary:To delineate the glacial meltwater distribution, we used five noble gases for optimum multiparameter analysis (OMPA) of the water masses in the Dotson-Getz Trough (DGT), Amundsen Sea. The increased number of tracers allowed us to define potential source waters at the surface, which have not been possible with a small set of tracers. The highest submarine meltwater (SMW) fraction (~0.6%) was present at the depth of ~450 m near the Dotson Ice Shelf. The SMW appeared to travel beyond the continental shelf break along an isopycnal layer. Air-equilibrated freshwater (up to 1.5%), presumably ventilated SMW (VMW) and surface melts, was present in the surface layer (<100 m). The distribution of SMW indicates that upwelled SMW, known as an important carrier of iron to the upper layer, amounts for 29% of the SMW in the DGT. The clear separation of VMW from SMW enabled partitioning of meltwater into locally-produced and upstream fractions and estimation of the basal melting of 53 – 94 Gt yr-1 for the adjacent ice shelves, assuming that the SMW fractions represent accumulation since the previous Winter Water formation. The Meteoric Water (MET) fractions, consisting of SMW and VMW, comprised 24% of those derived from oxygen isotopes, indicating that the annual input from basal melting is far less than the inventory of meteoric water, represented by MET.

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