Impact of coupling frequency on warm and cold cavities in coupled Antarctic ice-sheet model simulations

Abstract

<p>Sub-shelf melting is one of the dominant drivers of Antarctica's ice sheet mass loss. Various sub-shelf melt rate parameterizations exist for standalone ice models, but they lack the capability to capture complex ocean circulation within ice shelf cavities. To overcome drawbacks of standalone models and to improve melt parameterizations, high resolution coupling of ice sheet and ocean models are capable of hindcasting past decennia and be compared to observations.</p><p>Here, we present results of a hindcast (1985-2018) of the new circumpolar coupled Southern Ocean – Antarctic ice sheet configuration, developed within the framework of the PARAMOUR project. The configuration is based on the ocean and sea ice model NEMO3.6-LIM3 and the ice sheet model f.ETISh v1.7. The coupling routine facilitates exchange of monthly sub-shelf melt rates (from ocean to ice model) and evolving ice shelf cavity geometry (from ice to ocean model).</p><p>For a selection of warm and cold cavities, we investigate the impact of the coupling frequency (more precisely, the frequency of updating the ice shelf cavity geometry within the ocean model) and the coupling itself on the sub-shelf melt rates and its feedback on the ice dynamics. <br>We further compare the sub-shelf melt rates and the response of the ice sheet with observations and other studies.</p><div></div>