Data Analysis and Modeling of the Amundsen Sea Embayment

Abstract

The Pine Island Ice Shelf (PIIS) is melting rapidly, which may have a large impact on ice sheet dynamics, sea-level rise, and changes in water mass properties of the surrounding ocean. The reason for the PIIS melting is the relatively warm (~1.2 °C) Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) that approaches the PIIS cavity through two submarine glacial troughs located on the Amundsen Sea continental shelf. Since CDW causes melting of some other glaciers in West Antarctica in a similar way, understanding the PIIS melting helps to understand the impact of ocean-ice sheet interaction on the mass balance of the West Antarctic ice sheet and the impact of climate change in the Southern Ocean. Thus, in my PhD study, we investigate the CDW intrusion onto the Amundsen Sea continental shelf by (a) analyzing hydrographic data obtained during ANTXXVI/3 in 2010 and (b) using the Finite Element Sea ice-Ocean Model (FESOM). We focus on the intruding CDW properties and demonstrate the difficulties of modeling CDW intrusion onto the Amundsen Sea continental shelf. We further show that the choice of forcing is not the reason for the difficulties in reproducing the CDW intrusions.