| Summary: | Initial experiments indicate that large-scale topographic features drive dramatic changes in meridional boundary currents (which supply the vast majority of melt-producing water). Current experiments add additional isopycnal layers, illuminating the role of top and bottom boundary layers in the mass transport of dense and light water plumes. The location and strength of these flows exerts a strong influence on the cavity circulation as a whole. A preliminary analysis implies that the circulation is sensitive to melt rate, the slopes of the ice shelf and ocean floor, and stratification, viscosity, and thickness of the boundary layers. It is likely that the addition of thermodynamic feedbacks (freshwater input from ice melt, ocean mixing and dissipation, and meltwater stabilization) will result in a nonlinear response to changes in advected heat.
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