Ice Shelf Basal Melt Research Articles

Influence of fast ice on future ice shelf melting in the Totten Glacier area, East Antarctica

Abstract. The Totten Glacier in East Antarctica is of major climatic interest because of the large fluctuations in its grounding line and potential vulnerability to climate change. Here, we use a series of high-resolution, regional NEMO-LIM-based (Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean coupled with the Louvain-la-Neuve sea ice model) experiments, which include an explicit treatment of ocean–ice shelf interactions, as well as a representation of grounded icebergs and fast ice, to investigate the changes in ocean–ice interactions in the Totten Glacier area between the recent past (1995–2014) and the end of the 21st century (2081–2100) under SSP4–4.5 climate change conditions. By the end of the 21st century, the wide areas of multiyear fast ice simulated in the recent past are replaced by small patches of first year fast ice along the coast, which decreases the total summer sea ice extent. The Antarctic Slope Current is accelerated by about 116 %, which decreases the heat exchange across the shelf and tends to reduce the ice shelf basal melt rate, but this effect is counterbalanced by the effect of the oceanic warming. As a consequence, despite the accelerated Antarctic Slope Current, the Totten ice shelf melt rate is increased by 91 % due to the intrusion of warmer water into its cavity. The representation of fast ice dampens the ice shelf melt rate increase throughout the 21st century, as the Totten ice shelf melt rate increase reaches 136 % when fast ice is not taken into account. The Moscow University ice shelf melt rate increase is even more impacted by the representation of fast ice, with a 36 % melt rate increase with fast ice, compared to a 75 % increase without a fast ice representation. This influence of the representation of fast ice in our simulations on the basal melting rate trend over the 21st century is explained by the large impact of the fast ice for present-day conditions (∼25 % difference in m yr−1), while the impact decreases significantly at the end of the 21st century (∼4 % difference in m yr−1). As a consequence, the reduction in the fast ice extent in the future induces a decrease in the fast ice effect on the ice shelf melt rate that partly compensates for the increase due to warming of the ocean. This highlights the importance of including a representation of fast ice to simulate realistic ice shelf melt rate increase in East Antarctica under warming conditions.

Wind-Induced Variability of Warm Water on the Southern Bellingshausen Sea Continental Shelf.

The Bellingshausen Sea hosts heat transport onto the continental shelf, potentially enhancing ice shelf basal melt. Here, we use the GLORYS12V1 1993-2018 reanalysis to identify physical processes that set seasonal and interannual variability of water mass properties in the Eltanin and Latady Bays on the southern Bellingshausen Sea continental shelf. Annual means of potential temperature from 300m to the seabed reveal interannual variability and allow separation into warm and cold regimes. The Amundsen Sea Low (ASL) is more intense and extends further east during the warm regime than the cold regime. In the warm regime, a wind-induced reduction of sea ice concentration near the coast increases surface heat loss, convection, and formation of cold dense water in winter, associated with a decrease in heat content of the southern Bellingshausen Sea over time and a net northward heat transport. In contrast, in the cold regime, increased sea ice concentration reduces surface heat loss and thus formation of cold, dense water. Combined with an increase in heat content over time and a net southward heat transport, this results in a warming of the southern Bellingshausen Sea. This suggests that variability in the deep water temperature in the southern Bellingshausen Sea is primarily due to local surface heat fluxes above the shelf. The variability of surface heat fluxes is related to the variability of the ASL and its influence on sea ice extent and local formation of cold, dense water in winter.

Observations of Modified Warm Deep Water Beneath Ronne Ice Shelf, Antarctica, From an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

AbstractFilchner‐Ronne Ice Shelf (FRIS) is the world's largest ice shelf by volume. It helps regulate Antarctica's contribution to global sea level rise, and water mass transformations within the sub‐ice‐shelf cavity produce globally important dense water masses. Rates of ice shelf basal melting are relatively low, however, as the production of cold (−1.9°C) and dense High Salinity Shelf Water over the Weddell Sea continental shelf isolates the ice shelf from large‐scale inflow of warm water. Nevertheless, a narrow inflow of relatively warm (−1.4°C) Modified Warm Deep Water (MWDW) that hugs the western flank of Berkner Bank is observed to reach Ronne Ice Front, although the processes governing its circulation and fate remain uncertain. Here we present the first observations taken within the ice shelf cavity along this warm water inflow using the Autosub Long Range autonomous underwater vehicle. We observe a core of MWDW with a south‐westward velocity of 4 cm s−1 that reaches at least 18 km into the sub‐ice cavity. The hydrographic properties are spatially heterogeneous, giving rise to temporal variability that is driven by tidal advection. The highest rates of turbulent dissipation are associated with the warmest MWDW, with the vertical eddy diffusivity reaching 10−4 m2 s−1 where the water column is fully turbulent. Mixing efficiency is close to the canonical value of 0.2. Modeling studies suggest MWDW may become the dominant water mass beneath FRIS in our changing climate, providing strong motivation to understand more fully the dynamics of this MWDW inflow.

The Antarctic contribution to 21st-century sea-level rise predicted by the UK Earth System Model with an interactive ice sheet

Abstract. The Antarctic Ice Sheet will play a crucial role in the evolution of global mean sea level as the climate warms. An interactively coupled climate and ice sheet model is needed to understand the impacts of ice–climate feedbacks during this evolution. Here we use a two-way coupling between the UK Earth System Model and the BISICLES (Berkeley Ice Sheet Initiative for Climate at Extreme Scales) dynamic ice sheet model to investigate Antarctic ice–climate interactions under two climate change scenarios. We perform ensembles of SSP1–1.9 and SSP5–8.5 (Shared Socioeconomic Pathway) scenario simulations to 2100, which we believe are the first such simulations with a climate model that include two-way coupling of atmosphere and ocean models to dynamic models of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. We focus our analysis on the latter. In SSP1–1.9 simulations, ice shelf basal melting and grounded ice mass loss from the Antarctic Ice Sheet are generally lower than present rates during the entire simulation period. In contrast, the responses to SSP5–8.5 forcing are strong. By the end of the 21st century, these simulations feature order-of-magnitude increases in basal melting of the Ross and Filchner–Ronne ice shelves, caused by intrusions of masses of warm ocean water. Due to the slow response of ice sheet drawdown, this strong melting does not cause a substantial increase in ice discharge during the simulations. The surface mass balance in SSP5–8.5 simulations shows a pattern of strong decrease on ice shelves, caused by increased melting, and strong increase on grounded ice, caused by increased snowfall. Despite strong surface and basal melting of the ice shelves, increased snowfall dominates the mass budget of the grounded ice, leading to an ensemble mean Antarctic contribution to global mean sea level of a fall of 22 mm by 2100 in the SSP5–8.5 scenario. We hypothesise that this signal would revert to sea-level rise on longer timescales, caused by the ice sheet dynamic response to ice shelf thinning. These results demonstrate the need for fully coupled ice–climate models in reducing the substantial uncertainty in sea-level rise from the Antarctic Ice Sheet.

Regimes and Transitions in the Basal Melting of Antarctic Ice Shelves

Abstract The Antarctic Ice Sheet is losing mass as a result of increased ocean-driven melting of its fringing ice shelves. Efforts to represent the effects of basal melting in sea level projections are undermined by poor understanding of the turbulent ice shelf–ocean boundary layer (ISOBL), a meters-thick layer of ocean that regulates heat and salt transfer between the ocean and ice. To address this shortcoming, we perform large-eddy simulations of the ISOBL formed by a steady, geostrophic flow beneath horizontal ice. We investigate melting and ISOBL structure and properties over a range of free-stream velocities and ocean temperatures. We find that the melting response to changes in thermal and current forcing is highly nonlinear due to the effects of meltwater on ISOBL turbulence. Three distinct ISOBL regimes emerge depending on the relative strength of current shear and buoyancy forcing: “well-mixed,” “stratified,” or “diffusive-convective.” We present expressions for mixing-layer depth for each regime and show that the transitions between regimes can be predicted with simple nondimensional parameters. We use these results to develop a novel regime diagram for the ISOBL which provides insight into the varied melting responses expected around Antarctica and highlights the need to include stratified and diffusive-convective dynamics in future basal melting parameterizations. We emphasize that melting in the diffusive-convective regime is time dependent and is therefore inherently difficult to parameterize. Significance Statement The purpose of this study is to investigate the processes that control ocean-driven melting of Antarctic ice shelves (100–1000-m-thick floating extensions of the Antarctic ice sheet). Currently, these processes are poorly understood due to the difficulty of accessing the ocean beneath ice shelves. Using an ocean model, we determine the melting response to different ocean conditions, including feedbacks whereby cold, fresh meltwater can enhance or suppress turbulent eddies beneath the ice, depending on the ocean state. Our results point the way to improvements in the representation of ocean-driven melting in ocean/climate models, which will allow more accurate predictions of future climate and sea level.

The role of channelized basal melt in ice-shelf stability: recent progress and future priorities

AbstractBasal channels, which form where buoyant plumes of ocean water and meltwater carve troughs upwards into ice-shelf bases, are widespread on Antarctic ice shelves. The formation of these features modulates ice-shelf basal melt by influencing the flow of buoyant plumes, and influences structural stability through concentration of strain and interactions with fractures. Because of these effects, and because basal channels can change rapidly, on timescales similar to those of ice-shelf evolution, constraining the impacts of basal channels on ice shelves is necessary for predicting future ice-shelf destabilization and retreat. We suggest that future research priorities should include constraining patterns and rates of basal channel change, determining mechanisms and detailed patterns of basal melt, and quantifying the influence that channel-related fractures have on ice-shelf stability.

Antarctic Peninsula warming triggers enhanced basal melt rates throughout West Antarctica.

The observed acceleration of ice shelf basal melt rates throughout West Antarctica could destabilize continental ice sheets and markedly increase global sea level. Explanations for decadal-scale melt intensification have focused on processes local to shelf seas surrounding the ice shelves. A suite of process-based model experiments, guided by CMIP6 forcing scenarios, show that freshwater forcing from the Antarctic Peninsula, propagated between marginal seas by a coastal boundary current, causes enhanced melting throughout West Antarctica. The freshwater anomaly stratifies the ocean in front of the ice shelves and modifies vertical and lateral heat fluxes, enhancing heat transport into ice shelf cavities and increasing basal melt. Increased glacial runoff at the Antarctic Peninsula, one of the first signatures of a warming climate in Antarctica, emerges as a key trigger for increased ice shelf melt rates in the Amundsen and Bellingshausen Seas.

The Ocean Boundary Layer beneath Larsen C Ice Shelf: Insights from Large-Eddy Simulations with a Near-Wall Model

Abstract The melt rate of Antarctic ice shelves is of key importance for rising sea levels and future climate scenarios. Recent observations beneath Larsen C Ice Shelf revealed an ocean boundary layer that was highly turbulent and raised questions on the effect of these rich flow dynamics on the ocean heat transfer and the ice shelf melt rate. Directly motivated by the field observations, we have conducted large-eddy simulations (LES) to further examine the ocean boundary layer beneath Larsen C Ice Shelf. The LES was initialized with uniform temperature and salinity (T–S) and included a realistic tidal cycle and a small basal slope. A new parameterization based on previous work was applied at the top boundary to model near-wall turbulence and basal melting. The resulting vertical T–S profiles, melt rate, and friction velocity matched well with the Larsen C Ice Shelf observations. The instantaneous melt rate varied strongly with the tidal cycle, with faster flow increasing the turbulence and mixing of heat toward the ice base. An Ekman layer formed beneath the ice base and, due to the strong vertical shear of the current, Ekman rolls appeared in the mixed layer and stratified region (depth ≈ 20–60 m). In an additional high-resolution simulation (conducted with a smaller domain) the Ekman rolls were associated with increased turbulent kinetic energy, but a relatively small vertical heat flux. Our results will help with interpreting field observations and parameterizing the ocean-driven basal melting of ice shelves.

Modeling the thermal processes within the ice shelf–ocean boundary current underlain by strong pycnocline underneath a cold-water ice shelf using a 2.5-dimensional vertical slice model

Oceanic melting beneath ice shelves is the main driver of the current mass loss of the Antarctic ice sheet. The resultant meltwater plumes influence the basal melting of ice shelves, and contribute to the development of the unique two-layer stratified ice shelf–ocean boundary currents underlain by warmer, saltier, and stationary source waters. However, knowledge of the dynamics and thermodynamics within these meltwater plumes, controlling the heat available for melting ice, remains outstanding. Here we investigate that important issue by developing a 2.5-dimensional nonhydrostatic vertical slice model with 1.5 m vertical resolution, and conduct the reference run based on a representative Ice Shelf Water (ISW)-High Salinity Shelf Water (HSSW) boundary current beneath the Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica. Based on that we identify two dominating vertical thermal processes regulating the local temperature: the turbulent diffusion and the shear instabilities-induced convection (i.e., vertical advection), and carry out a quantitative thermal budget analysis in the framework of plume model, including deriving an analytical expression for the entrainment-induced heat flux. Moreover, after evaluating the entrainment parametrizations, it is suggested that the common assumption of neglecting the velocity at the lower boundary of meltwater plume potentially leads to a considerable deviation from the real entrainment. The sensitivity of the simulated results to model configuration and model resolution are also investigated. The findings in this study imply that we need to improve the model resolution of current ocean cavity models to capture the interfacial processes between lighter–denser waters.

The circum-Antarctic ice-shelves respond to a more positive Southern Annular Mode with regionally varied melting

The Southern Hemisphere cryosphere has recently shown regionally-contrasted responses to climate change, in particular to the positive phases of the Southern Annular Mode. However, the understanding of the impacts of this mode on ice-shelf basal melt at a circum-Antarctic scale is still limited. Here, we performed idealized experiments with a pan-Antarctic regional ice-shelf cavity-resolving ocean—sea-ice model for different phases of the Southern Annular Mode. We show that positive phases lead to increased upwelling and subsurface ocean temperature and salinity close to ice shelves, while the opposite occurs for negative phases. A one-standard-deviation increase of the Southern Annular Mode leads to a net basal mass loss of 40 Gt yr−1, with strong regional contrasts: increased ice-shelf basal melt in the Bellingshausen and Western Pacific sectors and the opposite response in the Amundsen sector. Estimates of 1000–1200 and 2090–2100 ice-shelf basal melt changes due to the Southern Annular Mode are −86.6 Gt yr−1 and 55.0 to 164.9 Gt yr−1, respectively, compared to the present.

Abruptly attenuated carbon sequestration with Weddell Sea dense waters by 2100

Antarctic Bottom Water formation, such as in the Weddell Sea, is an efficient vector for carbon sequestration on time scales of centuries. Possible changes in carbon sequestration under changing environmental conditions are unquantified to date, mainly due to difficulties in simulating the relevant processes on high-latitude continental shelves. Here, we use a model setup including both ice-shelf cavities and oceanic carbon cycling and demonstrate that by 2100, deep-ocean carbon accumulation in the southern Weddell Sea is abruptly attenuated to only 40% of the 1990s rate in a high-emission scenario, while the rate in the 2050s and 2080s is still 2.5-fold and 4-fold higher, respectively, than in the 1990s. Assessing deep-ocean carbon budgets and water mass transformations, we attribute this decline to an increased presence of modified Warm Deep Water on the southern Weddell Sea continental shelf, a 16% reduction in sea-ice formation, and a 79% increase in ice-shelf basal melt. Altogether, these changes lower the density and volume of newly formed bottom waters and reduce the associated carbon transport to the abyss.

Shear-margin melting causes stronger transient ice discharge than ice-stream melting in idealized simulations

Abstract. Basal ice-shelf melting is the key driver of Antarctica's increasing sea-level contribution. In diminishing the buttressing force of the ice shelves that fringe the ice sheet, the melting increases the ice discharge into the ocean. Here we contrast the influence of basal melting in two different ice-shelf regions on the time-dependent response of an isothermal, inherently buttressed ice-sheet-shelf system. In the idealized numerical simulations, the basal-melt perturbations are applied close to the grounding line in the ice-shelf's (1) ice-stream region, where the ice shelf is fed by the fastest ice masses that stream through the upstream bed trough and (2) shear margins, where the ice flow is slower. The results show that melting below one or both of the shear margins can cause a decadal to centennial increase in ice discharge that is more than twice as large compared to a similar perturbation in the ice-stream region. We attribute this to the fact that melt-induced ice-shelf thinning in the central grounding-line region is attenuated very effectively by the fast flow of the central ice stream. In contrast, the much slower ice dynamics in the lateral shear margins of the ice shelf facilitate sustained ice-shelf thinning and thereby foster buttressing reduction. Regardless of the melt location, a higher melt concentration toward the grounding line generally goes along with a stronger response. Our results highlight the vulnerability of outlet glaciers to basal melting in stagnant, buttressing-relevant ice-shelf regions, a mechanism that may gain importance under future global warming.

Basal melt of the southern Filchner Ice Shelf, Antarctica

Abstract. Basal melt of ice shelves is a key factor governing discharge of ice from the Antarctic Ice Sheet as a result of its effects on buttressing. Here, we use radio echo sounding to determine the spatial variability of the basal melt rate of the southern Filchner Ice Shelf, Antarctica, along the inflow of Support Force Glacier. We find moderate melt rates with a maximum of 1.13 m a−1 about 50 km downstream of the grounding line. The variability of the melt rates over distances of a few kilometres is low (all but one < 0.15 m a−1 at < 2 km distance), indicating that measurements on coarse observational grids are able to yield a representative melt rate distribution. A comparison with remote-sensing-based melt rates revealed that, for the study area, large differences were due to inaccuracies in the estimation of vertical strain rates from remote sensing velocity fields. These inaccuracies can be overcome by using modern velocity fields.

The impact of tides on Antarctic ice shelf melting

Abstract. Tides influence basal melting of individual Antarctic ice shelves, but their net impact on Antarctic-wide ice–ocean interaction has yet to be constrained. Here we quantify the impact of tides on ice shelf melting and the continental shelf seas using a 4 km resolution circum-Antarctic ocean model. Activating tides in the model increases the total basal mass loss by 57 Gt yr−1 (4 %) while decreasing continental shelf temperatures by 0.04 ∘C. The Ronne Ice Shelf features the highest increase in mass loss (44 Gt yr−1, 128 %), coinciding with strong residual currents and increasing temperatures on the adjacent continental shelf. In some large ice shelves tides strongly affect melting in regions where the ice thickness is of dynamic importance to grounded ice flow. Further, to explore the processes that cause variations in melting we apply dynamical–thermodynamical decomposition to the melt drivers in the boundary layer. In most regions, the impact of tidal currents on the turbulent exchange of heat and salt across the ice–ocean boundary layer has a strong contribution. In some regions, however, mechanisms driven by thermodynamic effects are equally or more important, including under the frontal parts of Ronne Ice Shelf. Our results support the importance of capturing tides for robust modelling of glacier systems and shelf seas, as well as motivate future studies to directly assess friction-based parameterizations for the pan-Antarctic domain.

Topography-mediated Transport of Warm Deep Water across the Continental Shelf Slope, East Antarctica

Abstract Warm Deep Water intrusion over the Antarctic continental shelves threatens the Antarctic ice-sheet stability by enhancing the basal melting of ice shelves. In East Antarctica, the Antarctic Slope Current (ASC), along with the Antarctic Slope Front (ASF), acts as a potential vorticity barrier to prevent the warm modified Circumpolar Deep Water (mCDW) from ventilating the cold and fresh shelf. However, mCDW onshore transport is still observed within certain shelf regions, such as submarine troughs running perpendicular to the continental shelf. This study focuses on the dynamic mechanisms governing mCDW intrusion within a submarine trough over the fresh shelf regions, East Antarctica. Based on an idealized eddy-resolving coupled ocean-ice shelf model, two high resolution process-oriented numerical experiments are conducted to reveal the mechanisms responsible for the mCDW onshore transport. Three dynamic mechanisms governing cross-slope mCDW intrusion are identified: 1) the bottom pressure torque, 2) the topography beta spiral, and 3) the topography Rossby waves. These three mechanisms simultaneously govern the mCDW intrusion together. The bottom pressure torque plays a leading role in driving the time-mean onshore flow whose vertical structure is determined by the topography beta spiral, while the topography Rossby waves contribute to the high-frequency oscillations in the onshore volume and heat transport. The simulated spatial distribution and seasonality of mCDW intrusion qualitatively coincide with the observed mCDW intrusion over fresh shelf regions, East Antarctica. Both the topography beta spiral and the ASC play an important role in governing the seasonality of mCDW intrusion.

Basal Melting, Roughness and Structural Integrity of Ice Shelves

AbstractIce shelves restrict outflow from many of the largest glaciers in Antarctica, thus limiting the Antarctic contribution to sea‐level rise. However, past ice‐shelf collapse events show they are highly vulnerable to surface and basal melting. Collapse of ice shelves in front of glaciers flowing on retrograde slopes could initiate runaway retreat processes. Difficulty in projecting how quickly these could play out makes dynamic ice loss from Antarctica the largest uncertainty in predicting future sea‐level rise. Basal melting can impact structural integrity of ice shelves in several ways. Results from analyses of variations in ice‐shelf roughness by Watkins et al. (2021; https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL094743) raise the tantalizing prospect that this may provide a simple quantitative measure of how the structural integrity of an ice shelf has been impacted by basal melting. Applying the method to additional ice shelves would be useful to examine how other factors may contribute to roughness.

The Whole Antarctic Ocean Model (WAOM v1.0): development and evaluation

Abstract. The Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS), including an ice shelf component, has been applied on a circum-Antarctic domain to derive estimates of ice shelf basal melting. Significant improvements made compared to previous models of this scale are the inclusion of tides and a horizontal spatial resolution of 2 km, which is sufficient to resolve on-shelf heat transport by bathymetric troughs and eddy-scale circulation. We run the model with ocean–atmosphere–sea ice conditions from the year 2007 to represent nominal present-day climate. We force the ocean surface with buoyancy fluxes derived from sea ice concentration observations and wind stress from ERA-Interim atmospheric reanalysis. Boundary conditions are derived from the ECCO2 ocean state estimate; tides are incorporated as sea surface height and barotropic currents at the open boundary. We evaluate model results using satellite-derived estimates of ice shelf melting and established compilations of ocean hydrography. The Whole Antarctic Ocean Model (WAOM v1.0) qualitatively captures the broad scale difference between warm and cold regimes as well as many of the known characteristics of regional ice–ocean interaction. We identify a cold bias for some warm-water ice shelves and a lack of high-salinity shelf water (HSSW) formation. We conclude that further calibration and development of our approach are justified. At its current state, the model is ideal for addressing specific, process-oriented questions, e.g. related to tide-driven ice shelf melting at large scales.

Ice-shelf ocean boundary layer dynamics from large-eddy simulations

Abstract. Small-scale turbulent flow below ice shelves is regionally isolated and difficult to measure and simulate. Yet these small-scale processes, which regulate heat and salt transfer between the ocean and ice shelves, can affect sea-level rise by altering the ability of Antarctic ice shelves to “buttress” ice flux to the ocean. In this study, we improve our understanding of turbulence below ice shelves by means of large-eddy simulations at sub-meter resolution, capturing boundary layer mixing at scales intermediate between laboratory experiments or direct numerical simulations and regional or global ocean circulation models. Our simulations feature the development of an ice-shelf ocean boundary layer through dynamic ice melting in a regime with low thermal driving, low ice-shelf basal slope, and strong shear driven by the geostrophic flow. We present a preliminary assessment of existing ice-shelf basal melt parameterizations adopted in single component or coupled ice-sheet and ocean models on the basis of a small parameter study. While the parameterized linear relationship between ice-shelf melt rate and far-field ocean temperature appears to be robust, we point out a little-considered relationship between ice-shelf basal slope and melting worthy of further study.

Intense ocean freshening from melting glacier around the Antarctica during early twenty-first century

With the accelerating mass loss of Antarctic ice sheets, the freshening of the Southern Ocean coastal oceans (SOc, seas around Antarctica) is gradually intensifying, which will reduce the formation of bottom water and weaken the meridional overturning circulation, thus having a significant negative impact on the ocean’s role in regulating global climate. Due to the extreme environment of the Southern Ocean and the limitations of observational techniques, our understanding of the glacier-derived freshening of SOc is still vague. We developed a method that first provided us with an expansive understanding of glacier-derived freshening progress over the SOc. Applying this method to the observational data in the SOc from 1926 to 2016, revealed that the rate of glacier-derived freshwater input reached a maximum of 268 ± 134 Gt year−1 during the early twenty-first century. Our results indicate that during the same period, glacier melting accounted for 63%, 28%, and 92% of the total freshening occurred in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific sectors of the SOc, respectively. This suggests that the ice shelf basal melt in West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula plays a dominant role in the freshening of the surrounding seas.

Thermohaline structure and circulation beneath the Langhovde Glacier ice shelf in East Antarctica

Basal melting of ice shelves is considered to be the principal driver of recent ice mass loss in Antarctica. Nevertheless, in-situ oceanic data covering the extensive areas of a subshelf cavity are sparse. Here we show comprehensive structures of temperature, salinity and current measured in January 2018 through four boreholes drilled at a ~3-km-long ice shelf of Langhovde Glacier in East Antarctica. The measurements were performed in 302–12 m-thick ocean cavity beneath 234–412 m-thick ice shelf. The data indicate that Modified Warm Deep Water is transported into the grounding zone beneath a stratified buoyant plume. Water at the ice-ocean interface was warmer than the in-situ freezing point by 0.65–0.95°C, leading to a mean basal melt rate estimate of 1.42 m a−1. Our measurements indicate the existence of a density-driven water circulation in the cavity beneath the ice shelf of Langhovde Glacier, similar to that proposed for warm-ocean cavities of larger Antarctic ice shelves.