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Channelized ice melting in the ocean boundary layer beneath Pine Island Glacier, Antarctica

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-18, 13:42 authored by Stanton, TP, Shaw, WJ, Truffer, M, Corr, HFJ, Peters, LE, Riverman, KL, Bindschadler, R, Holland, DM, Anandakrishnan, S
Ice shelves play a key role in the mass balance of the Antarctic ice sheets by buttressing their seaward-flowing outlet glaciers; however, they are exposed to the underlying ocean and may weaken if ocean thermal forcing increases. An expedition to the ice shelf of the remote Pine Island Glacier, a major outlet of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet that has rapidly thinned and accelerated in recent decades, has been completed. Observations from geophysical surveys and long-term oceanographic instruments deployed down bore holes into the ocean cavity reveal a buoyancy-driven boundary layer within a basal channel that melts the channel apex by 0.06 meter per day, with near-zero melt rates along the flanks of the channel. A complex pattern of such channels is visible throughout the Pine Island Glacier shelf.

History

Publication title

Science

Volume

341

Issue

6151

Pagination

1236-1239

ISSN

0036-8075

Department/School

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies

Publisher

Amer Assoc Advancement Science

Place of publication

1200 New York Ave, Nw, Washington, USA, Dc, 20005

Rights statement

Copyright 2013 The Authors

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Effects of climate change on Antarctic and sub-Antarctic environments (excl. social impacts)

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