Impact of tide-topography interactions on basal melting of Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Basal melting of ice shelves around Antarctica contributes to formation ofAntarctic Bottom Water and can affect global sea level by altering the offshore flow ofgrounded ice streams and glaciers. Tides influence ice shelf basal melt rate ( w b ) bycontributing to ocean mixing and mean circulation as...
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ftunivtasecite:oai:ecite.utas.edu.au:89657 2023-05-15T13:42:40+02:00 Impact of tide-topography interactions on basal melting of Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctica Mueller, RD Padman, L Dinniman, MS Erofeeva, SY Fricker, HA King, MA 2012 https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JC007263 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/89657 en eng Wiley-Blackwell Publishing http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011JC007263 Mueller, RD and Padman, L and Dinniman, MS and Erofeeva, SY and Fricker, HA and King, MA, Impact of tide-topography interactions on basal melting of Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctica, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 117, (C5) Article C05005. ISSN 2169-9275 (2012) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/89657 Earth Sciences Geophysics Geodesy Refereed Article PeerReviewed 2012 ftunivtasecite https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JC007263 2022-09-05T22:16:43Z Basal melting of ice shelves around Antarctica contributes to formation ofAntarctic Bottom Water and can affect global sea level by altering the offshore flow ofgrounded ice streams and glaciers. Tides influence ice shelf basal melt rate ( w b ) bycontributing to ocean mixing and mean circulation as well as thermohaline exchangeswith the ice shelf. We use a three-dimensional ocean model, thermodynamicallycoupled to a nonevolving ice shelf, to investigate the relationship between topography,tides, and w b for Larsen C Ice Shelf (LCIS) in the northwestern Weddell Sea,Antarctica. Using our best estimates of ice shelf thickness and seabed topography, wefind that the largest modeled LCIS melt rates occur in the northeast, where our modelpredicts strong diurnal tidal currents (~0.4 m s -1 ). This distribution is significantlydifferent from models with no tidal forcing, which predict largest melt rates along the deepgrounding lines. We compare several model runs to explore melt rate sensitivity togeometry, initial ocean potential temperature ( θ 0 ), thermodynamic parameterizations ofheat and freshwater ice-ocean exchange, and tidal forcing. The resulting range ofLCIS-averaged wb is ~0.11-0.44 m a -1 . The spatial distribution of w b is verysensitive to model geometry and thermodynamic parameterization while the overallmagnitude of w b is influenced by O 0 . These sensitivities in w b predictions reinforce a needfor high-resolution maps of ice draft and sub-ice-shelf seabed topography together withocean temperature measurements at the ice shelf front to improve representation of iceshelves in coupled climate system models. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica Antarctica Journal Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Weddell Sea eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) Weddell Weddell Sea Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 117 C5 n/a n/a |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtasecite |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth Sciences Geophysics Geodesy |
spellingShingle |
Earth Sciences Geophysics Geodesy Mueller, RD Padman, L Dinniman, MS Erofeeva, SY Fricker, HA King, MA Impact of tide-topography interactions on basal melting of Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Earth Sciences Geophysics Geodesy |
description |
Basal melting of ice shelves around Antarctica contributes to formation ofAntarctic Bottom Water and can affect global sea level by altering the offshore flow ofgrounded ice streams and glaciers. Tides influence ice shelf basal melt rate ( w b ) bycontributing to ocean mixing and mean circulation as well as thermohaline exchangeswith the ice shelf. We use a three-dimensional ocean model, thermodynamicallycoupled to a nonevolving ice shelf, to investigate the relationship between topography,tides, and w b for Larsen C Ice Shelf (LCIS) in the northwestern Weddell Sea,Antarctica. Using our best estimates of ice shelf thickness and seabed topography, wefind that the largest modeled LCIS melt rates occur in the northeast, where our modelpredicts strong diurnal tidal currents (~0.4 m s -1 ). This distribution is significantlydifferent from models with no tidal forcing, which predict largest melt rates along the deepgrounding lines. We compare several model runs to explore melt rate sensitivity togeometry, initial ocean potential temperature ( θ 0 ), thermodynamic parameterizations ofheat and freshwater ice-ocean exchange, and tidal forcing. The resulting range ofLCIS-averaged wb is ~0.11-0.44 m a -1 . The spatial distribution of w b is verysensitive to model geometry and thermodynamic parameterization while the overallmagnitude of w b is influenced by O 0 . These sensitivities in w b predictions reinforce a needfor high-resolution maps of ice draft and sub-ice-shelf seabed topography together withocean temperature measurements at the ice shelf front to improve representation of iceshelves in coupled climate system models. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Mueller, RD Padman, L Dinniman, MS Erofeeva, SY Fricker, HA King, MA |
author_facet |
Mueller, RD Padman, L Dinniman, MS Erofeeva, SY Fricker, HA King, MA |
author_sort |
Mueller, RD |
title |
Impact of tide-topography interactions on basal melting of Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctica |
title_short |
Impact of tide-topography interactions on basal melting of Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctica |
title_full |
Impact of tide-topography interactions on basal melting of Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Impact of tide-topography interactions on basal melting of Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Impact of tide-topography interactions on basal melting of Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctica |
title_sort |
impact of tide-topography interactions on basal melting of larsen c ice shelf, antarctica |
publisher |
Wiley-Blackwell Publishing |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JC007263 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/89657 |
geographic |
Weddell Weddell Sea |
geographic_facet |
Weddell Weddell Sea |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica Antarctica Journal Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Weddell Sea |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica Antarctica Journal Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Weddell Sea |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011JC007263 Mueller, RD and Padman, L and Dinniman, MS and Erofeeva, SY and Fricker, HA and King, MA, Impact of tide-topography interactions on basal melting of Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctica, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 117, (C5) Article C05005. ISSN 2169-9275 (2012) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/89657 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JC007263 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans |
container_volume |
117 |
container_issue |
C5 |
container_start_page |
n/a |
op_container_end_page |
n/a |
_version_ |
1766171335489224704 |