Strong ice-ocean interaction beneath Shirase Glacier Tongue in East Antarctica

Mass loss from the Antarctic ice sheet, Earths largest freshwater reservoir, results directly in global sea-level rise and Southern Ocean freshening. Observational and modeling studies have demonstrated that ice shelf basal melting, resulting from the inflow of warm water onto the Antarctic continen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature Communications
Main Authors: Hirano, D, Tamura, T, Kusahara, K, Ohshima, KI, Nicholls, KW, Ushio, S, Simizu, D, Ono, K, Fujii, M, Nogi, Y, Aoki, S
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Nature Publishing Group 2020
Subjects:
Earth Sciences
Oceanography
Physical oceanography
Antarctic
Southern Ocean
The Antarctic
East Antarctica
Shirase Glacier
Antarc*
Antarctica
Ice Sheet
Ice Shelf
Ice Shelves
Totten Ice Shelf
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17527-4
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32839464
http://ecite.utas.edu.au/143771
Description
Summary:Mass loss from the Antarctic ice sheet, Earths largest freshwater reservoir, results directly in global sea-level rise and Southern Ocean freshening. Observational and modeling studies have demonstrated that ice shelf basal melting, resulting from the inflow of warm water onto the Antarctic continental shelf, plays a key role in the ice sheets mass balance. In recent decades, warm ocean-cryosphere interaction in the Amundsen and Bellingshausen seas has received a great deal of attention. However, except for Totten Ice Shelf, East Antarctic ice shelves typically have cold ice cavities with low basal melt rates. Here we present direct observational evidence of high basal melt rates (716 m yr −1 ) beneath an East Antarctic ice shelf, Shirase Glacier Tongue, driven by southward-flowing warm water guided by a deep continuous trough extending to the continental slope. The strength of the alongshore wind controls the thickness of the inflowing warm water layer and the rate of basal melting.

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