Basal terraces on melting ice shelves
Ocean waters melt the margins of Antarctic and Greenland glaciers, and individual glaciers' responses and the integrity of their ice shelves are expected to depend on the spatial distribution of melt. The bases of the ice shelves associated with Pine Island Glacier (West Antarctica) and Peterma...
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American Geophysical Union
2014
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ftunivnorthumb:oai:nrl.northumbria.ac.uk:42656 2023-05-15T13:44:52+02:00 Basal terraces on melting ice shelves Dutrieux, Pierre Stewart, Craig Jenkins, Adrian Nicholls, Keith W. Corr, Hugh F. J. Rignot, Eric Steffen, Konrad 2014-08-16 text https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42656/ https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GL060618 https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42656/1/Basal%20terraces%20on%20melting%20ice%20shelves.pdf en eng American Geophysical Union https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42656/1/Basal%20terraces%20on%20melting%20ice%20shelves.pdf Dutrieux, Pierre, Stewart, Craig, Jenkins, Adrian, Nicholls, Keith W., Corr, Hugh F. J., Rignot, Eric and Steffen, Konrad (2014) Basal terraces on melting ice shelves. Geophysical Research Letters, 41 (15). pp. 5506-5513. ISSN 0094-8276 F700 Ocean Sciences F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences Article PeerReviewed 2014 ftunivnorthumb https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GL060618 2022-09-25T06:11:45Z Ocean waters melt the margins of Antarctic and Greenland glaciers, and individual glaciers' responses and the integrity of their ice shelves are expected to depend on the spatial distribution of melt. The bases of the ice shelves associated with Pine Island Glacier (West Antarctica) and Petermann Glacier (Greenland) have similar geometries, including kilometer-wide, hundreds-of-meter high channels oriented along and across the direction of ice flow. The channels are enhanced by, and constrain, oceanic melt. New meter-scale observations of basal topography reveal peculiar glaciated landscapes. Channel flanks are not smooth, but are instead stepped, with hundreds-of-meters-wide flat terraces separated by 5-50m high walls. Melting is shown to be modulated by the geometry: constant across each terrace, changing from one terrace to the next, and greatly enhanced on the ∼45° inclined walls. Melting is therefore fundamentally heterogeneous and likely associated with stratification in the ice-ocean boundary layer, challenging current models of ice shelf-ocean interactions. Key Points Basal topography of melting ice shelves is complex Basal terraces appear ubiquitous under melting ice shelves Melting concentrates on walls between terraces. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica glacier Greenland Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Petermann glacier Pine Island Pine Island Glacier West Antarctica Northumbria University, Newcastle: Northumbria Research Link (NRL) Antarctic Greenland Pine Island Glacier ENVELOPE(-101.000,-101.000,-75.000,-75.000) West Antarctica Geophysical Research Letters 41 15 5506 5513 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Northumbria University, Newcastle: Northumbria Research Link (NRL) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivnorthumb |
language |
English |
topic |
F700 Ocean Sciences F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences |
spellingShingle |
F700 Ocean Sciences F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences Dutrieux, Pierre Stewart, Craig Jenkins, Adrian Nicholls, Keith W. Corr, Hugh F. J. Rignot, Eric Steffen, Konrad Basal terraces on melting ice shelves |
topic_facet |
F700 Ocean Sciences F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences |
description |
Ocean waters melt the margins of Antarctic and Greenland glaciers, and individual glaciers' responses and the integrity of their ice shelves are expected to depend on the spatial distribution of melt. The bases of the ice shelves associated with Pine Island Glacier (West Antarctica) and Petermann Glacier (Greenland) have similar geometries, including kilometer-wide, hundreds-of-meter high channels oriented along and across the direction of ice flow. The channels are enhanced by, and constrain, oceanic melt. New meter-scale observations of basal topography reveal peculiar glaciated landscapes. Channel flanks are not smooth, but are instead stepped, with hundreds-of-meters-wide flat terraces separated by 5-50m high walls. Melting is shown to be modulated by the geometry: constant across each terrace, changing from one terrace to the next, and greatly enhanced on the ∼45° inclined walls. Melting is therefore fundamentally heterogeneous and likely associated with stratification in the ice-ocean boundary layer, challenging current models of ice shelf-ocean interactions. Key Points Basal topography of melting ice shelves is complex Basal terraces appear ubiquitous under melting ice shelves Melting concentrates on walls between terraces. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Dutrieux, Pierre Stewart, Craig Jenkins, Adrian Nicholls, Keith W. Corr, Hugh F. J. Rignot, Eric Steffen, Konrad |
author_facet |
Dutrieux, Pierre Stewart, Craig Jenkins, Adrian Nicholls, Keith W. Corr, Hugh F. J. Rignot, Eric Steffen, Konrad |
author_sort |
Dutrieux, Pierre |
title |
Basal terraces on melting ice shelves |
title_short |
Basal terraces on melting ice shelves |
title_full |
Basal terraces on melting ice shelves |
title_fullStr |
Basal terraces on melting ice shelves |
title_full_unstemmed |
Basal terraces on melting ice shelves |
title_sort |
basal terraces on melting ice shelves |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42656/ https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GL060618 https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42656/1/Basal%20terraces%20on%20melting%20ice%20shelves.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-101.000,-101.000,-75.000,-75.000) |
geographic |
Antarctic Greenland Pine Island Glacier West Antarctica |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Greenland Pine Island Glacier West Antarctica |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica glacier Greenland Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Petermann glacier Pine Island Pine Island Glacier West Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica glacier Greenland Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Petermann glacier Pine Island Pine Island Glacier West Antarctica |
op_relation |
https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42656/1/Basal%20terraces%20on%20melting%20ice%20shelves.pdf Dutrieux, Pierre, Stewart, Craig, Jenkins, Adrian, Nicholls, Keith W., Corr, Hugh F. J., Rignot, Eric and Steffen, Konrad (2014) Basal terraces on melting ice shelves. Geophysical Research Letters, 41 (15). pp. 5506-5513. ISSN 0094-8276 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GL060618 |
container_title |
Geophysical Research Letters |
container_volume |
41 |
container_issue |
15 |
container_start_page |
5506 |
op_container_end_page |
5513 |
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1766207796013957120 |