Freshening by glacial meltwater enhances melting of ice shelves and reduces formation of Antarctic bottom water

• Published in: Science Advances
• Main Authors: Silvano, Alessandro, Rintoul, Stephen Rich, Peña-Molino, Beatriz, Hobbs, William Richard, Wijk, Esmee van, Aoki, Shigeru, Tamura, Takeshi, Williams, Guy Darvall
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: Antarctic; The Antarctic; East Antarctica; West Antarctica; Amundsen Sea; Getz; Sabrina Coast; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice Sheet; Ice Shelf; Ice Shelves; Sea ice; Totten Ice Shelf
• Online Access: https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/469726/

Strong heat loss and brine release during sea ice formation in coastal polynyas act to cool and salinify waters on the Antarctic continental shelf. Polynya activity thus both limits the ocean heat flux to the Antarctic Ice Sheet and promotes formation of Dense Shelf Water (DSW), the precursor to Ant...