Antarctic ice shelf disintegration triggered by sea ice loss and ocean swell
Understanding the causes of recent catastrophic ice shelf disintegrations is a crucial step towards improving coupled models of the Antarctic Ice Sheet and predicting its future state and contribution to sea-level rise. An overlooked climate-related causal factor is regional sea ice loss. Here we sh...
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ftunivtasmania:oai:eprints.utas.edu.au:39491 2023-05-15T13:42:39+02:00 Antarctic ice shelf disintegration triggered by sea ice loss and ocean swell Massom, RA Scambos, TA Bennetts, LG Reid, P Squire, VA Stammerjohn, SE 2018 https://eprints.utas.edu.au/39491/ unknown Nature Publishing Group Massom, RA orcid:0000-0003-1533-5084 , Scambos, TA, Bennetts, LG, Reid, P, Squire, VA and Stammerjohn, SE 2018 , 'Antarctic ice shelf disintegration triggered by sea ice loss and ocean swell' , Nature, vol. 558, no. 7710 , pp. 383-389 , doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0212-1 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0212-1>. Antarctic ice shelf disintegration sea ice change ocean swell Article PeerReviewed 2018 ftunivtasmania https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0212-1 2022-01-17T23:17:43Z Understanding the causes of recent catastrophic ice shelf disintegrations is a crucial step towards improving coupled models of the Antarctic Ice Sheet and predicting its future state and contribution to sea-level rise. An overlooked climate-related causal factor is regional sea ice loss. Here we show that for the disintegration events observed (the collapse of the Larsen A and B and Wilkins ice shelves), the increased seasonal absence of a protective sea ice buffer enabled increased flexure of vulnerable outer ice shelf margins by ocean swells that probably weakened them to the point of calving. This outer-margin calving triggered wider-scale disintegration of ice shelves compromised by multiple factors in preceding years, with key prerequisites being extensive flooding and outer-margin fracturing. Wave-induced flexure is particularly effective in outermost ice shelf regions thinned by bottom crevassing. Our analysis of satellite and ocean-wave data and modelling of combined ice shelf, sea ice and wave properties highlights the need for ice sheet models to account for sea ice and ocean waves. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Sea ice University of Tasmania: UTas ePrints Antarctic The Antarctic Wilkins ENVELOPE(59.326,59.326,-67.248,-67.248) Nature 558 7710 383 389 |
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University of Tasmania: UTas ePrints |
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ftunivtasmania |
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topic |
Antarctic ice shelf disintegration sea ice change ocean swell |
spellingShingle |
Antarctic ice shelf disintegration sea ice change ocean swell Massom, RA Scambos, TA Bennetts, LG Reid, P Squire, VA Stammerjohn, SE Antarctic ice shelf disintegration triggered by sea ice loss and ocean swell |
topic_facet |
Antarctic ice shelf disintegration sea ice change ocean swell |
description |
Understanding the causes of recent catastrophic ice shelf disintegrations is a crucial step towards improving coupled models of the Antarctic Ice Sheet and predicting its future state and contribution to sea-level rise. An overlooked climate-related causal factor is regional sea ice loss. Here we show that for the disintegration events observed (the collapse of the Larsen A and B and Wilkins ice shelves), the increased seasonal absence of a protective sea ice buffer enabled increased flexure of vulnerable outer ice shelf margins by ocean swells that probably weakened them to the point of calving. This outer-margin calving triggered wider-scale disintegration of ice shelves compromised by multiple factors in preceding years, with key prerequisites being extensive flooding and outer-margin fracturing. Wave-induced flexure is particularly effective in outermost ice shelf regions thinned by bottom crevassing. Our analysis of satellite and ocean-wave data and modelling of combined ice shelf, sea ice and wave properties highlights the need for ice sheet models to account for sea ice and ocean waves. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Massom, RA Scambos, TA Bennetts, LG Reid, P Squire, VA Stammerjohn, SE |
author_facet |
Massom, RA Scambos, TA Bennetts, LG Reid, P Squire, VA Stammerjohn, SE |
author_sort |
Massom, RA |
title |
Antarctic ice shelf disintegration triggered by sea ice loss and ocean swell |
title_short |
Antarctic ice shelf disintegration triggered by sea ice loss and ocean swell |
title_full |
Antarctic ice shelf disintegration triggered by sea ice loss and ocean swell |
title_fullStr |
Antarctic ice shelf disintegration triggered by sea ice loss and ocean swell |
title_full_unstemmed |
Antarctic ice shelf disintegration triggered by sea ice loss and ocean swell |
title_sort |
antarctic ice shelf disintegration triggered by sea ice loss and ocean swell |
publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://eprints.utas.edu.au/39491/ |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(59.326,59.326,-67.248,-67.248) |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic Wilkins |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic Wilkins |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Sea ice |
op_relation |
Massom, RA orcid:0000-0003-1533-5084 , Scambos, TA, Bennetts, LG, Reid, P, Squire, VA and Stammerjohn, SE 2018 , 'Antarctic ice shelf disintegration triggered by sea ice loss and ocean swell' , Nature, vol. 558, no. 7710 , pp. 383-389 , doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0212-1 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0212-1>. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0212-1 |
container_title |
Nature |
container_volume |
558 |
container_issue |
7710 |
container_start_page |
383 |
op_container_end_page |
389 |
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1766170810998849536 |