Phys.org November 8, 2024
Solar-warmed surface waters subduct beneath Antarctica’s ice shelves because of wind forcing, but this process is poorly observed and its interannual variability is yet to be assessed. Researchers in the UK observed a 50-meter-thick intrusion of warm surface water immediately beneath the Ross Ice Shelf. Temperature in the uppermost 5 meters decreased toward the ice base in near-perfect agreement with an exponential fit, consistent with the loss of heat to the overlying ice. They found that Ekman forcing drove a heat transport into the cavity sufficient to contribute considerably to near-front melting; this transport increased over the past four decades, driven by the increasing heat content of the ice-front polynya. According to researchers the interannual variability of the heat transport is driven by zonal wind stress. Their results provide a benchmark against which model performance may be assessed as we seek to reduce uncertainty around the contribution of basal melting to sea level rise… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Mean sea ice concentration while the Seaglider was under the ice… Credit:Â Science Advances, 8 Nov 2024, Vol 10, Issue 45