Getz Ice Shelf melt enhanced by freshwater discharge from beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet
Antarctica's Getz Ice Shelf has been rapidly thinning in recent years, producing more meltwater than any other ice shelf in the world. The influx of fresh water is known to substantially influence ocean circulation and biological productivity, but relatively little is known about the factors co...
Published in: | The Cryosphere |
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Language: | English |
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2723228 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1399-2020 |
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ftimr:oai:imr.brage.unit.no:11250/2723228 2023-05-15T13:30:57+02:00 Getz Ice Shelf melt enhanced by freshwater discharge from beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Wei, Wei Blankenship, Donald D. Greenbaum, Jamin S. Gourmelen, Noel Dow, Christine F. Richter, Thomas G. Greene, Chad A. Young, Duncan A. Lee, SangHoon Kim, Tae-Wan Lee, Won Sang Assmann, Karen Margarete 2020 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2723228 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1399-2020 eng eng The Cryosphere. 2020, 14 (4), 1399-1408. urn:issn:1994-0416 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2723228 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1399-2020 cristin:1868909 1399-1408 14 The Cryosphere 4 Peer reviewed Journal article 2020 ftimr https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1399-2020 2021-09-23T20:14:15Z Antarctica's Getz Ice Shelf has been rapidly thinning in recent years, producing more meltwater than any other ice shelf in the world. The influx of fresh water is known to substantially influence ocean circulation and biological productivity, but relatively little is known about the factors controlling basal melt rate or how basal melt is spatially distributed beneath the ice shelf. Also unknown is the relative importance of subglacial discharge from the grounded ice sheet in contributing to the export of fresh water from the ice shelf cavity. Here we compare the observed spatial distribution of basal melt rate to a new sub-ice-shelf bathymetry map inferred from airborne gravity surveys and to locations of subglacial discharge from the grounded ice sheet. We find that melt rates are high where bathymetric troughs provide a pathway for warm Circumpolar Deep Water to enter the ice shelf cavity and that melting is enhanced where subglacial discharge fresh water flows across the grounding line. This is the first study to address the relative importance of meltwater production of the Getz Ice Shelf from both ocean and subglacial sources. publishedVersion Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Getz Ice Shelf Ice Sheet Ice Shelf The Cryosphere Institute for Marine Research: Brage IMR Antarctic West Antarctic Ice Sheet Getz ENVELOPE(-145.217,-145.217,-76.550,-76.550) Getz Ice Shelf ENVELOPE(-126.500,-126.500,-74.250,-74.250) The Cryosphere 14 4 1399 1408 |
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Open Polar |
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Institute for Marine Research: Brage IMR |
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ftimr |
language |
English |
description |
Antarctica's Getz Ice Shelf has been rapidly thinning in recent years, producing more meltwater than any other ice shelf in the world. The influx of fresh water is known to substantially influence ocean circulation and biological productivity, but relatively little is known about the factors controlling basal melt rate or how basal melt is spatially distributed beneath the ice shelf. Also unknown is the relative importance of subglacial discharge from the grounded ice sheet in contributing to the export of fresh water from the ice shelf cavity. Here we compare the observed spatial distribution of basal melt rate to a new sub-ice-shelf bathymetry map inferred from airborne gravity surveys and to locations of subglacial discharge from the grounded ice sheet. We find that melt rates are high where bathymetric troughs provide a pathway for warm Circumpolar Deep Water to enter the ice shelf cavity and that melting is enhanced where subglacial discharge fresh water flows across the grounding line. This is the first study to address the relative importance of meltwater production of the Getz Ice Shelf from both ocean and subglacial sources. publishedVersion |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Wei, Wei Blankenship, Donald D. Greenbaum, Jamin S. Gourmelen, Noel Dow, Christine F. Richter, Thomas G. Greene, Chad A. Young, Duncan A. Lee, SangHoon Kim, Tae-Wan Lee, Won Sang Assmann, Karen Margarete |
spellingShingle |
Wei, Wei Blankenship, Donald D. Greenbaum, Jamin S. Gourmelen, Noel Dow, Christine F. Richter, Thomas G. Greene, Chad A. Young, Duncan A. Lee, SangHoon Kim, Tae-Wan Lee, Won Sang Assmann, Karen Margarete Getz Ice Shelf melt enhanced by freshwater discharge from beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet |
author_facet |
Wei, Wei Blankenship, Donald D. Greenbaum, Jamin S. Gourmelen, Noel Dow, Christine F. Richter, Thomas G. Greene, Chad A. Young, Duncan A. Lee, SangHoon Kim, Tae-Wan Lee, Won Sang Assmann, Karen Margarete |
author_sort |
Wei, Wei |
title |
Getz Ice Shelf melt enhanced by freshwater discharge from beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet |
title_short |
Getz Ice Shelf melt enhanced by freshwater discharge from beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet |
title_full |
Getz Ice Shelf melt enhanced by freshwater discharge from beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet |
title_fullStr |
Getz Ice Shelf melt enhanced by freshwater discharge from beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet |
title_full_unstemmed |
Getz Ice Shelf melt enhanced by freshwater discharge from beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet |
title_sort |
getz ice shelf melt enhanced by freshwater discharge from beneath the west antarctic ice sheet |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2723228 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1399-2020 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-145.217,-145.217,-76.550,-76.550) ENVELOPE(-126.500,-126.500,-74.250,-74.250) |
geographic |
Antarctic West Antarctic Ice Sheet Getz Getz Ice Shelf |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic West Antarctic Ice Sheet Getz Getz Ice Shelf |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Getz Ice Shelf Ice Sheet Ice Shelf The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Getz Ice Shelf Ice Sheet Ice Shelf The Cryosphere |
op_source |
1399-1408 14 The Cryosphere 4 |
op_relation |
The Cryosphere. 2020, 14 (4), 1399-1408. urn:issn:1994-0416 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2723228 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1399-2020 cristin:1868909 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1399-2020 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
1399 |
op_container_end_page |
1408 |
_version_ |
1766014504307523584 |