Impacts of marine instability across the East Antarctic Ice Sheet on Southern Ocean dynamics
Recent observations and modelling studies have demonstrated the potential for rapid and substantial retreat of large sectors of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS). This has major implications for ocean circulation and global sea level. Here we examine the effects of increasing meltwater from the Wi...
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ftunswworks:oai:unsworks.library.unsw.edu.au:1959.4/unsworks_39580 2024-06-02T07:58:05+00:00 Impacts of marine instability across the East Antarctic Ice Sheet on Southern Ocean dynamics Phipps, SJ Fogwill, CJ Turney, C 2016-05-26 http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/unsworks_39580 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2016-111 unknown European Geosciences Union (EGU) http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP120200724 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP130104156 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FL100100195 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT120100004 http://www.the-cryosphere-discuss.net/tc-2016-111/ http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/unsworks_39580 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2016-111 metadata only access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_14cb CC-BY-NC-ND https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ urn:ISSN:1994-0424 The Cryosphere 14 Life Below Water 13 Climate Action anzsrc-for: 0405 Oceanography anzsrc-for: 0406 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience journal article http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 2016 ftunswworks https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2016-111 2024-05-07T23:50:25Z Recent observations and modelling studies have demonstrated the potential for rapid and substantial retreat of large sectors of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS). This has major implications for ocean circulation and global sea level. Here we examine the effects of increasing meltwater from the Wilkes Basin, one of the major marine-based sectors of the EAIS, on Southern Ocean dynamics. Climate model simulations reveal that the meltwater flux rapidly stratifies surface waters, leading to a dramatic decrease in the rate of Antarctic Bottom Water formation. The surface ocean cools but, critically, the Southern Ocean warms by more than 1 ºC at depth. This warming is accompanied by a Southern Ocean-wide "domino effect", whereby the warming signal propagates westward with depth. Our results suggest that melting of one sector of the EAIS could result in accelerated warming across other sectors, including the Weddell Sea sector of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Thus localised melting of the EAIS could potentially destabilise the wider Antarctic Ice Sheet. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet Southern Ocean The Cryosphere Weddell Sea UNSW Sydney (The University of New South Wales): UNSWorks Antarctic East Antarctic Ice Sheet Southern Ocean Weddell Weddell Sea West Antarctic Ice Sheet |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
UNSW Sydney (The University of New South Wales): UNSWorks |
op_collection_id |
ftunswworks |
language |
unknown |
topic |
14 Life Below Water 13 Climate Action anzsrc-for: 0405 Oceanography anzsrc-for: 0406 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience |
spellingShingle |
14 Life Below Water 13 Climate Action anzsrc-for: 0405 Oceanography anzsrc-for: 0406 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience Phipps, SJ Fogwill, CJ Turney, C Impacts of marine instability across the East Antarctic Ice Sheet on Southern Ocean dynamics |
topic_facet |
14 Life Below Water 13 Climate Action anzsrc-for: 0405 Oceanography anzsrc-for: 0406 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience |
description |
Recent observations and modelling studies have demonstrated the potential for rapid and substantial retreat of large sectors of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS). This has major implications for ocean circulation and global sea level. Here we examine the effects of increasing meltwater from the Wilkes Basin, one of the major marine-based sectors of the EAIS, on Southern Ocean dynamics. Climate model simulations reveal that the meltwater flux rapidly stratifies surface waters, leading to a dramatic decrease in the rate of Antarctic Bottom Water formation. The surface ocean cools but, critically, the Southern Ocean warms by more than 1 ºC at depth. This warming is accompanied by a Southern Ocean-wide "domino effect", whereby the warming signal propagates westward with depth. Our results suggest that melting of one sector of the EAIS could result in accelerated warming across other sectors, including the Weddell Sea sector of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Thus localised melting of the EAIS could potentially destabilise the wider Antarctic Ice Sheet. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Phipps, SJ Fogwill, CJ Turney, C |
author_facet |
Phipps, SJ Fogwill, CJ Turney, C |
author_sort |
Phipps, SJ |
title |
Impacts of marine instability across the East Antarctic Ice Sheet on Southern Ocean dynamics |
title_short |
Impacts of marine instability across the East Antarctic Ice Sheet on Southern Ocean dynamics |
title_full |
Impacts of marine instability across the East Antarctic Ice Sheet on Southern Ocean dynamics |
title_fullStr |
Impacts of marine instability across the East Antarctic Ice Sheet on Southern Ocean dynamics |
title_full_unstemmed |
Impacts of marine instability across the East Antarctic Ice Sheet on Southern Ocean dynamics |
title_sort |
impacts of marine instability across the east antarctic ice sheet on southern ocean dynamics |
publisher |
European Geosciences Union (EGU) |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/unsworks_39580 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2016-111 |
geographic |
Antarctic East Antarctic Ice Sheet Southern Ocean Weddell Weddell Sea West Antarctic Ice Sheet |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic East Antarctic Ice Sheet Southern Ocean Weddell Weddell Sea West Antarctic Ice Sheet |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet Southern Ocean The Cryosphere Weddell Sea |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet Southern Ocean The Cryosphere Weddell Sea |
op_source |
urn:ISSN:1994-0424 The Cryosphere |
op_relation |
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP120200724 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP130104156 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FL100100195 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT120100004 http://www.the-cryosphere-discuss.net/tc-2016-111/ http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/unsworks_39580 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2016-111 |
op_rights |
metadata only access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_14cb CC-BY-NC-ND https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2016-111 |
_version_ |
1800741358382612480 |