Articles | Volume 18, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-18-1339-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-18-1339-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Hydrography, circulation, and response to atmospheric forcing in the vicinity of the central Getz Ice Shelf, Amundsen Sea, Antarctica
Vår Dundas
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Geophysical Institute, University of Bergen and the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, Bergen, Norway
Elin Darelius
Geophysical Institute, University of Bergen and the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, Bergen, Norway
Kjersti Daae
Geophysical Institute, University of Bergen and the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, Bergen, Norway
Nadine Steiger
Geophysical Institute, University of Bergen and the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, Bergen, Norway
Yoshihiro Nakayama
Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
Tae-Wan Kim
Korea Polar Research Institute, Incheon, South Korea
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Antarctica's ice shelves are melting from below as ocean currents bring warm water into the ice shelf cavities. The melt rates of the large Filchner–Ronne Ice Shelf in the southern Weddell Sea are currently low, as the water in the cavity is cold. Here, we present data from a scientific cruise to the region in 2021 and show that the warmest water at the upper part of the continental slope is now about 0.1°C warmer than in previous observations, while the surface water is fresher than before.
Jan De Rydt, Nicolas C. Jourdain, Yoshihiro Nakayama, Mathias van Caspel, Ralph Timmermann, Pierre Mathiot, Xylar S. Asay-Davis, Hélène Seroussi, Pierre Dutrieux, Ben Galton-Fenzi, David Holland, and Ronja Reese
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Yoshihiro Nakayama, Alena Malyarenko, Hong Zhang, Ou Wang, Matthis Auger, Ian Fenty, Matthew Mazloff, Köhl Armin, and Dimitris Menemenlis
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Global and basin-scale ocean reanalyses are becoming easily accessible. Yet, such ocean reanalyses are optimized for their entire model domains and their ability to simulate the Southern Ocean requires evaluations. We conduct intercomparison analyses of Massachusetts Institute of Technology general circulation model (MITgcm)-based ocean reanalyses. They generally perform well for the open ocean, but open ocean temporal variability and Antarctic continental shelves require improvements.
Julius Lauber, Tore Hattermann, Laura de Steur, Elin Darelius, and Agneta Fransson
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Recent studies have highlighted the potential vulnerability of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet to atmospheric and oceanic changes. We present new insights from observations from three oceanic moorings below Fimbulisen Ice Shelf from 2009 to 2021. We find that relatively warm water masses reach below the ice shelf both close to the surface and at depth with implications for the basal melting of Fimbulisen.
Elin Darelius, Vår Dundas, Markus Janout, and Sandra Tippenhauer
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Antarctica's ice shelves are melting from below as ocean currents bring warm water into the ice shelf cavities. The melt rates of the large Filchner–Ronne Ice Shelf in the southern Weddell Sea are currently low, as the water in the cavity is cold. Here, we present data from a scientific cruise to the region in 2021 and show that the warmest water at the upper part of the continental slope is now about 0.1°C warmer than in previous observations, while the surface water is fresher than before.
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High ice shelf melting in the Amundsen Sea has attracted many observational campaigns in the past decade. One method to combine observations with numerical models is the adjoint method. After 20 iterations, the cost function, defined as a sum of the weighted model–data difference, is reduced by 65 % by adjusting initial conditions, atmospheric forcing, and vertical diffusivity. This study demonstrates adjoint-method optimization with explicit representation of ice shelf cavity circulation.
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Previous studies have shown accelerations of West Antarctic glaciers, implying that basal melt rates of these glaciers were small and increased in the middle of the 20th century. We conduct coupled sea ice–ice shelf–ocean simulations with different levels of ice shelf melting from West Antarctic glaciers. This study reveals how far and how quickly glacial meltwater from ice shelves in the Amundsen and Bellingshausen seas propagates downstream into the Ross Sea and along the East Antarctic coast.
Jinyoung Jung, Sang-Bum Hong, Meilian Chen, Jin Hur, Liping Jiao, Youngju Lee, Keyhong Park, Doshik Hahm, Jung-Ok Choi, Eun Jin Yang, Jisoo Park, Tae-Wan Kim, and SangHoon Lee
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Characteristics of atmospheric sulfur and organic carbon species in marine aerosols and the environmental factors influencing their distributions were investigated over the Southern Ocean and the Amundsen Sea, Antarctica, during austral summer. The simultaneous measurements of chemical species in aerosols as well as the chemical and biological properties of seawater in the Amundsen Sea allowed for a better understanding of the effect of the ocean ecosystem on marine aerosols.
Wei Wei, Donald D. Blankenship, Jamin S. Greenbaum, Noel Gourmelen, Christine F. Dow, Thomas G. Richter, Chad A. Greene, Duncan A. Young, SangHoon Lee, Tae-Wan Kim, Won Sang Lee, and Karen M. Assmann
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Getz Ice Shelf is the largest meltwater source from Antarctica of the Southern Ocean. This study compares the relative importance of the meltwater production of Getz from both ocean and subglacial sources. We show that basal melt rates are elevated where bathymetric troughs provide pathways for warm Circumpolar Deep Water to enter the Getz Ice Shelf cavity. In particular, we find that subshelf melting is enhanced where subglacially discharged fresh water flows across the grounding line.
Minkyoung Kim, Eun Jin Yang, Hyung Jeek Kim, Dongseon Kim, Tae-Wan Kim, Hyoung Sul La, SangHoon Lee, and Jeomshik Hwang
Biogeosciences, 16, 2683–2691, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-2683-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-2683-2019, 2019
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Unexpectedly, in sediment traps deployed in the Antarctic Amundsen Sea to catch small sinking particles in the water, large benthic invertebrates such as long and slender worms, baby sea urchins, and small scallops were found. We suggest three hypotheses: lifting of these animals by anchor ice formation and subsequent transport by ice rafting, spending their juvenile period in a habitat underneath the sea ice and subsequent falling, or their active use of the current as a means of dispersal.
Bogi Hansen, Turið Poulsen, Karin Margretha Húsgarð Larsen, Hjálmar Hátún, Svein Østerhus, Elin Darelius, Barbara Berx, Detlef Quadfasel, and Kerstin Jochumsen
Ocean Sci., 13, 873–888, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-13-873-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-13-873-2017, 2017
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On its way towards the Arctic, an important branch of warm Atlantic water passes through the Faroese Channels, but, in spite of more than a century of investigations, the detailed flow pattern through this channel system has not been resolved. This has strong implications for estimates of oceanic heat transport towards the Arctic. Here, we combine observations from various sources, which together paint a coherent picture of the Atlantic water flow and heat transport through this channel system.
Stefanie Semper and Elin Darelius
Ocean Sci., 13, 77–93, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-13-77-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-13-77-2017, 2017
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Velocity measurements from moorings at the shelf break in the southern Weddell Sea reveal strong diurnal tidal currents, which are enhanced by ca. 50 % in austral summer compared to winter. A numerical code describing coastal trapped waves (CTWs) is used to explore the effect of changing stratification and circulation on wave properties. It is found that near-resonance between CTWs and diurnal tides during austral summer can explain the observed enhancement of diurnal tidal currents.
Jenny E. Ullgren, Elin Darelius, and Ilker Fer
Ocean Sci., 12, 451–470, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-12-451-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-12-451-2016, 2016
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One-year long moored measurements of currents and hydrographic properties in the overflow region of the Faroe Bank Channel have provided a more accurate observational-based estimate of the volume transport, entrainment, and eddy diffusivities associated with the overflow plume. The data set resolves the temporal variability and covers the entire lateral and vertical extent of the plume.
E. Darelius, I. Fer, T. Rasmussen, C. Guo, and K. M. H. Larsen
Ocean Sci., 11, 855–871, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-11-855-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-11-855-2015, 2015
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Quasi-regular eddies are known to be generated in the outflow of dense water through the Faroe Bank Channel. One year long mooring records from the plume region show that (1) the energy associated with the eddies varies by a factor of 10 throughout the year and (2) the frequency of the eddies shifts between 3 and 6 days and is related to the strength of the outflow. Similar variability is shown by a high-resolution regional model and the observations agree with theory on baroclinic instability.
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Co-editor-in-chief
The Antarctic is by far the largest body of water (mostly ice in this case) that is not in the sea and therefore potentially important for changing sea level. The large size of the Getz ice shelf and its as yet uncertain potential for melting by oceanic waters below make this an important study for understanding and predicting impacts of a warmer climate.
The Antarctic is by far the largest body of water (mostly ice in this case) that is not in the...
Short summary
Ice shelves in the Amundsen Sea are thinning rapidly as ocean currents bring warm water into cavities beneath the floating ice. We use 2-year-long mooring records and 16-year-long model simulations to describe the hydrography and circulation near the ice front between Siple and Carney Islands. We find that temperatures here are lower than at neighboring ice fronts and that the transport of heat toward the cavity is governed by wind stress over the Amundsen Sea continental shelf.
Ice shelves in the Amundsen Sea are thinning rapidly as ocean currents bring warm water into...