Persistent Ross Sea freshening from imbalance West Antarctic Ice Shelf melting
A 63-year observational record in the southwest Ross Sea shows a continuing, near-linear salinity decrease of 0.170 and slight warming of 0.013°C through 2020. That freshening exceeded any increase in sea ice production and brine release from stronger southerly winds, while melting and freezing at t...
Published in: | Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans |
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Language: | English |
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American Geophysical Union
2022
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Online Access: | http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532170/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532170/1/JGR%20Oceans%20-%202022%20-%20Jacobs%20-%20Persistent%20Ross%20Sea%20Freshening%20From%20Imbalance%20West%20Antarctic%20Ice%20Shelf%20Melting.pdf https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2021JC017808 |
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:532170 2023-05-15T13:24:05+02:00 Persistent Ross Sea freshening from imbalance West Antarctic Ice Shelf melting Jacobs, S.S. Giulivi, C.F. Dutrieux, P. 2022-03-10 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532170/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532170/1/JGR%20Oceans%20-%202022%20-%20Jacobs%20-%20Persistent%20Ross%20Sea%20Freshening%20From%20Imbalance%20West%20Antarctic%20Ice%20Shelf%20Melting.pdf https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2021JC017808 en eng American Geophysical Union https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532170/1/JGR%20Oceans%20-%202022%20-%20Jacobs%20-%20Persistent%20Ross%20Sea%20Freshening%20From%20Imbalance%20West%20Antarctic%20Ice%20Shelf%20Melting.pdf Jacobs, S.S.; Giulivi, C.F.; Dutrieux, P. orcid:0000-0002-8066-934X . 2022 Persistent Ross Sea freshening from imbalance West Antarctic Ice Shelf melting. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 127 (3), e2021JC017808. 19, pp. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC017808 <https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC017808> cc_by_4 CC-BY Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2022 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC017808 2023-02-04T19:53:03Z A 63-year observational record in the southwest Ross Sea shows a continuing, near-linear salinity decrease of 0.170 and slight warming of 0.013°C through 2020. That freshening exceeded any increase in sea ice production and brine release from stronger southerly winds, while melting and freezing at the Ross Ice Shelf base contributed little to the salinity change. The parallel seawater density decline appears not to have enhanced warm deep water intrusions onto the continental shelf. Confirming prior inferences, the salinity change has been mainly caused by a growing imbalance in the meltwater available from thinning ice shelves and increased iceberg calving in the upstream Amundsen and Bellingshausen Seas. Shorter-term salinity variability has tracked winds near the Amundsen Sea continental shelf break, in turn coherent with a broader Pacific climate variability index, and with salinity reversals on and seaward of the Ross continental shelf. The melt driven freshening is positively correlated with global atmospheric CO2 and temperature increases, and adds to the rise in sea level from increased glacier flow into weakened ice shelves. Continued erosion of those ice shelves could end the production of high salinity shelf and bottom waters, as defined in the Ross Sea, by the 2050s. Article in Journal/Newspaper Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Iceberg* Ross Ice Shelf Ross Sea Sea ice Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Antarctic Ross Sea Amundsen Sea Ross Ice Shelf Pacific Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 127 3 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
English |
description |
A 63-year observational record in the southwest Ross Sea shows a continuing, near-linear salinity decrease of 0.170 and slight warming of 0.013°C through 2020. That freshening exceeded any increase in sea ice production and brine release from stronger southerly winds, while melting and freezing at the Ross Ice Shelf base contributed little to the salinity change. The parallel seawater density decline appears not to have enhanced warm deep water intrusions onto the continental shelf. Confirming prior inferences, the salinity change has been mainly caused by a growing imbalance in the meltwater available from thinning ice shelves and increased iceberg calving in the upstream Amundsen and Bellingshausen Seas. Shorter-term salinity variability has tracked winds near the Amundsen Sea continental shelf break, in turn coherent with a broader Pacific climate variability index, and with salinity reversals on and seaward of the Ross continental shelf. The melt driven freshening is positively correlated with global atmospheric CO2 and temperature increases, and adds to the rise in sea level from increased glacier flow into weakened ice shelves. Continued erosion of those ice shelves could end the production of high salinity shelf and bottom waters, as defined in the Ross Sea, by the 2050s. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jacobs, S.S. Giulivi, C.F. Dutrieux, P. |
spellingShingle |
Jacobs, S.S. Giulivi, C.F. Dutrieux, P. Persistent Ross Sea freshening from imbalance West Antarctic Ice Shelf melting |
author_facet |
Jacobs, S.S. Giulivi, C.F. Dutrieux, P. |
author_sort |
Jacobs, S.S. |
title |
Persistent Ross Sea freshening from imbalance West Antarctic Ice Shelf melting |
title_short |
Persistent Ross Sea freshening from imbalance West Antarctic Ice Shelf melting |
title_full |
Persistent Ross Sea freshening from imbalance West Antarctic Ice Shelf melting |
title_fullStr |
Persistent Ross Sea freshening from imbalance West Antarctic Ice Shelf melting |
title_full_unstemmed |
Persistent Ross Sea freshening from imbalance West Antarctic Ice Shelf melting |
title_sort |
persistent ross sea freshening from imbalance west antarctic ice shelf melting |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532170/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532170/1/JGR%20Oceans%20-%202022%20-%20Jacobs%20-%20Persistent%20Ross%20Sea%20Freshening%20From%20Imbalance%20West%20Antarctic%20Ice%20Shelf%20Melting.pdf https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2021JC017808 |
geographic |
Antarctic Ross Sea Amundsen Sea Ross Ice Shelf Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Ross Sea Amundsen Sea Ross Ice Shelf Pacific |
genre |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Iceberg* Ross Ice Shelf Ross Sea Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Iceberg* Ross Ice Shelf Ross Sea Sea ice |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532170/1/JGR%20Oceans%20-%202022%20-%20Jacobs%20-%20Persistent%20Ross%20Sea%20Freshening%20From%20Imbalance%20West%20Antarctic%20Ice%20Shelf%20Melting.pdf Jacobs, S.S.; Giulivi, C.F.; Dutrieux, P. orcid:0000-0002-8066-934X . 2022 Persistent Ross Sea freshening from imbalance West Antarctic Ice Shelf melting. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 127 (3), e2021JC017808. 19, pp. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC017808 <https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC017808> |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC017808 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans |
container_volume |
127 |
container_issue |
3 |
_version_ |
1766377305003786240 |