Front morphology of Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf and implications for mass loss
Abstract
Melting beneath the outer 100 km of Antarctica's largest ice shelves generally leads to a smooth decrease in surface elevation toward the ice front. Within several kilometers of the front, however, the processes governing melting and resultant changes in surface elevation are less well understood. One such process involves preferential erosion of the subaerial portion of the ice front, which leaves behind a submerged bench of ice whose buoyancy pushes the seaward edge upward and eventually leads to a calving event. We investigate the spatial distribution and temporal evolution of this morphology on Ross Ice Shelf with airborne laser altimetry data from the ROSETTA-Ice project and satellite laser altimetry data from the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat). The prevalence of this feature allows us to estimate the amount of mass loss associated with its formation. Moreover, by connecting observed patterns to driving ocean and sea-ice dynamics, we speculate about how this mass-loss term might respond to a changing climate.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFM.U13B..04B
- Keywords:
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- 0810 Post-secondary education;
- EDUCATION