Articles | Volume 13, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-13-765-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-13-765-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Response to Filchner–Ronne Ice Shelf cavity warming in a coupled ocean–ice sheet model – Part 1: The ocean perspective
Ralph Timmermann
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany
Sebastian Goeller
Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany
now at: GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
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Recently, it was found that cold-to-warm changes in the Antarctic shelf sea are possible and lead to higher melt rates of ice shelves. In modeling experiments, we found that if the highest density in front of the ice shelf becomes lower than the density of the warmer water off-shelf at the deepest access to the shelf, the off-shelf water will flow onto the shelf. Our results also indicate that this change will offer some, although not much resistance to reversal and constitutes a tipping point.
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Q. Wang, S. Danilov, D. Sidorenko, R. Timmermann, C. Wekerle, X. Wang, T. Jung, and J. Schröter
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Short summary
A coupled model has been developed to study the interaction between the ocean and the Antarctic ice sheet. Simulations for present-day climate yield realistic ice-shelf melt rates and a grounding line position close to the observed state. In a warm-water-inflow scenario, the model suggests a substantial thinning of the ice shelf and a local retreat of the grounding line. The coupled model yields a stronger increase in ice-shelf basal melt rates than a fixed-geometry control experiment.
A coupled model has been developed to study the interaction between the ocean and the Antarctic...