Controls of the basal mass balance of floating ice shelves

Models of the circulation beneath ice shelves draw on knowledge gained from observations of the turbulent boundary layer beneath sea ice [1] to parameterise the thermodynamic interaction between ice-shelf and ocean [2]. These parameterisations are commonly transferred to the sub-ice-shelf boundary layer in regions of melting [3], but are limited by uncertainty in the value of the friction coefficient and representations of the heat flux into the ice shelf and are wholly unsuitable when the nature of the ice-ocean interface is different [4], as a result of frazil formation in the super cooled waters. This paper will present an overview of the commonly used parameterisations and highlight where uncertainties remain.