Ice front retreat reconfigures meltwater-driven gyres modulating ocean heat delivery to an Antarctic ice shelf

This study was sponsored by a research grant from the Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (KIMST20190361; PM21020) and supported by the National Science Foundation and Natural Environment Research Council (NERC: Grants NE/S006419/1 and NE/S006591/1) for the TARSAN and the THOR projects, componen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature Communications
Main Authors: Yoon, Seung-Tae, Lee, Won Sang, Nam, Sung Hyun, Lee, Choon-Ki, Yun, Sukyoung, Heywood, Karen, Boehme, Lars, Zheng, Yixi, Lee, Inhee, Choi, Yeon, Jenkins, Adrian, Jin, Emilia, Larter, Robert, Wellner, Julia, Dutrieux, Pierre, Bradley, Alexander
Other Authors: NERC, University of St Andrews. School of Biology, University of St Andrews. Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St Andrews. Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews. Marine Alliance for Science & Technology Scotland
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2022
Subjects:
GE Environmental Sciences
QE Geology
DAS
GE
QE
Antarctic
Island Bay
Pine Island Bay
Pine Island Glacier
Thwaites Glacier
Antarc*
Ice Shelf
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10023/24694
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-27968-8
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Summary:This study was sponsored by a research grant from the Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (KIMST20190361; PM21020) and supported by the National Science Foundation and Natural Environment Research Council (NERC: Grants NE/S006419/1 and NE/S006591/1) for the TARSAN and the THOR projects, components of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC). ITGC Contribution No. ITGC-061. Pine Island Ice Shelf (PIIS) buttresses the Pine Island Glacier, the key contributor to sea-level rise. PIIS has thinned owing to ocean-driven melting, and its calving front has retreated, leading to buttressing loss. PIIS melting depends primarily on the thermocline variability in its front. Furthermore, local ocean circulation shifts adjust heat transport within Pine Island Bay (PIB), yet oceanic processes underlying the ice front retreat remain unclear. Here, we report a PIB double-gyre that moves with the PIIS calving front and hypothesise that it controls ocean heat input towards PIIS. Glacial melt generates cyclonic and anticyclonic gyres near and off PIIS, and meltwater outflows converge into the anticyclonic gyre with a deep-convex-downward thermocline. The double-gyre migrated eastward as the calving front retreated, placing the anticyclonic gyre over a shallow seafloor ridge, reducing the ocean heat input towards PIIS. Reconfigurations of meltwater-driven gyres associated with moving ice boundaries might be crucial in modulating ocean heat delivery to glacial ice. Publisher PDF Peer reviewed

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