Pathways and modification of warm water flowing beneath Thwaites Ice Shelf, West Antarctica
Thwaites Glacier is the most rapidly changing outlet of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and adds large uncertainty to 21st century sea-level rise predictions. Here, we present the first direct observations of ocean temperature, salinity, and oxygen beneath Thwaites Ice Shelf front, collected by an auto...
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American Association for the Advancement of Science
2021
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Online Access: | http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/528118/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/528118/1/eabd7254.full.pdf https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/15/eabd7254 |
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:528118 2023-05-15T13:41:45+02:00 Pathways and modification of warm water flowing beneath Thwaites Ice Shelf, West Antarctica Wåhlin, A.K. Graham, A.G.C. Hogan, K.A. Queste, B.Y. Boehme, L. Larter, R.D. Pettit, E.C. Wellner, J. Heywood, K.J. 2021-04-09 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/528118/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/528118/1/eabd7254.full.pdf https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/15/eabd7254 en eng American Association for the Advancement of Science https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/528118/1/eabd7254.full.pdf Wåhlin, A.K.; Graham, A.G.C.; Hogan, K.A. orcid:0000-0002-1256-8010 Queste, B.Y.; Boehme, L.; Larter, R.D. orcid:0000-0002-8414-7389 Pettit, E.C.; Wellner, J.; Heywood, K.J. 2021 Pathways and modification of warm water flowing beneath Thwaites Ice Shelf, West Antarctica. Science Advances, 7 (15), eabd7254. 10, pp. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abd7254 <https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abd7254> cc_by_nc_4 CC-BY-NC Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2021 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abd7254 2023-02-04T19:50:51Z Thwaites Glacier is the most rapidly changing outlet of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and adds large uncertainty to 21st century sea-level rise predictions. Here, we present the first direct observations of ocean temperature, salinity, and oxygen beneath Thwaites Ice Shelf front, collected by an autonomous underwater vehicle. On the basis of these data, pathways and modification of water flowing into the cavity are identified. Deep water underneath the central ice shelf derives from a previously underestimated eastern branch of warm water entering the cavity from Pine Island Bay. Inflow of warm and outflow of melt-enriched waters are identified in two seafloor troughs to the north. Spatial property gradients highlight a previously unknown convergence zone in one trough, where different water masses meet and mix. Our observations show warm water impinging from all sides on pinning points critical to ice-shelf stability, a scenario that may lead to unpinning and retreat. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Pine Island Pine Island Bay Thwaites Glacier Thwaites Ice Shelf West Antarctica Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Antarctic West Antarctica West Antarctic Ice Sheet Island Bay ENVELOPE(-109.085,-109.085,59.534,59.534) Pine Island Bay ENVELOPE(-102.000,-102.000,-74.750,-74.750) Thwaites Glacier ENVELOPE(-106.750,-106.750,-75.500,-75.500) Science Advances 7 15 eabd7254 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
English |
description |
Thwaites Glacier is the most rapidly changing outlet of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and adds large uncertainty to 21st century sea-level rise predictions. Here, we present the first direct observations of ocean temperature, salinity, and oxygen beneath Thwaites Ice Shelf front, collected by an autonomous underwater vehicle. On the basis of these data, pathways and modification of water flowing into the cavity are identified. Deep water underneath the central ice shelf derives from a previously underestimated eastern branch of warm water entering the cavity from Pine Island Bay. Inflow of warm and outflow of melt-enriched waters are identified in two seafloor troughs to the north. Spatial property gradients highlight a previously unknown convergence zone in one trough, where different water masses meet and mix. Our observations show warm water impinging from all sides on pinning points critical to ice-shelf stability, a scenario that may lead to unpinning and retreat. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Wåhlin, A.K. Graham, A.G.C. Hogan, K.A. Queste, B.Y. Boehme, L. Larter, R.D. Pettit, E.C. Wellner, J. Heywood, K.J. |
spellingShingle |
Wåhlin, A.K. Graham, A.G.C. Hogan, K.A. Queste, B.Y. Boehme, L. Larter, R.D. Pettit, E.C. Wellner, J. Heywood, K.J. Pathways and modification of warm water flowing beneath Thwaites Ice Shelf, West Antarctica |
author_facet |
Wåhlin, A.K. Graham, A.G.C. Hogan, K.A. Queste, B.Y. Boehme, L. Larter, R.D. Pettit, E.C. Wellner, J. Heywood, K.J. |
author_sort |
Wåhlin, A.K. |
title |
Pathways and modification of warm water flowing beneath Thwaites Ice Shelf, West Antarctica |
title_short |
Pathways and modification of warm water flowing beneath Thwaites Ice Shelf, West Antarctica |
title_full |
Pathways and modification of warm water flowing beneath Thwaites Ice Shelf, West Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Pathways and modification of warm water flowing beneath Thwaites Ice Shelf, West Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Pathways and modification of warm water flowing beneath Thwaites Ice Shelf, West Antarctica |
title_sort |
pathways and modification of warm water flowing beneath thwaites ice shelf, west antarctica |
publisher |
American Association for the Advancement of Science |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/528118/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/528118/1/eabd7254.full.pdf https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/15/eabd7254 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-109.085,-109.085,59.534,59.534) ENVELOPE(-102.000,-102.000,-74.750,-74.750) ENVELOPE(-106.750,-106.750,-75.500,-75.500) |
geographic |
Antarctic West Antarctica West Antarctic Ice Sheet Island Bay Pine Island Bay Thwaites Glacier |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic West Antarctica West Antarctic Ice Sheet Island Bay Pine Island Bay Thwaites Glacier |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Pine Island Pine Island Bay Thwaites Glacier Thwaites Ice Shelf West Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Pine Island Pine Island Bay Thwaites Glacier Thwaites Ice Shelf West Antarctica |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/528118/1/eabd7254.full.pdf Wåhlin, A.K.; Graham, A.G.C.; Hogan, K.A. orcid:0000-0002-1256-8010 Queste, B.Y.; Boehme, L.; Larter, R.D. orcid:0000-0002-8414-7389 Pettit, E.C.; Wellner, J.; Heywood, K.J. 2021 Pathways and modification of warm water flowing beneath Thwaites Ice Shelf, West Antarctica. Science Advances, 7 (15), eabd7254. 10, pp. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abd7254 <https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abd7254> |
op_rights |
cc_by_nc_4 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY-NC |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abd7254 |
container_title |
Science Advances |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
15 |
container_start_page |
eabd7254 |
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1766156956091809792 |