| 1. |
- Azaneu, M., et al.
(författare)
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Influence of Shelf Break Processes on the Transport of Warm Waters Onto the Eastern Amundsen Sea Continental Shelf
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans. - 2169-9275. ; 128:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The heat transported onto the continental shelf by Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) is the main driver of ice shelf basal melting in the Amundsen Sea. Here, we investigate the slope current system and the variability of the heat transported through the Pine Island-Thwaites central and eastern troughs using data from five moorings deployed in the region between 5 March 2012 and 7 February 2016. Substantial variability on intermonthly time scales (3-4 months) is observed in the onshore heat flux, driven primarily by zonal wind stress north of the shelf break. Heat content, onshore flow, and heat flux are highly correlated between central and eastern troughs, which are most likely dynamically linked by the zonal wind stress forcing. This is the first time this dynamic link between troughs is observed. In the eastern the Amundsen Sea, during the El Nino of 2015/2016, strong eastward winds led to lower temperatures over the continental shelf while the onshore heat flux is intensified. We hypothesize that this anti-correlation between heat content and heat flux results from a strengthened eastward undercurrent leading to upwelling of a colder and deeper CDW variety. These results highlight the complex and heterogeneous response of this region to environmental and the importance of velocity data for understanding the dynamics in this region. It also suggests that the hypothesized link between large-scale atmospheric forcing (e.g., El Nino-Southern Oscillation) and ice-shelf melt is not produced via changes in heat content, but instead via changes in onshore heat flux.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Graham, Alastair G.C., et al.
(författare)
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Rapid retreat of Thwaites Glacier in the pre-satellite era
- 2022
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Ingår i: Nature Geoscience. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1752-0894 .- 1752-0908. ; 15, s. 706-713
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Understanding the recent history of Thwaites Glacier, and the processes controlling its ongoing retreat, is key to projecting Antarctic contributions to future sea-level rise. Of particular concern is how the glacier grounding zone might evolve over coming decades where it is stabilized by sea-floor bathymetric highs. Here we use geophysical data from an autonomous underwater vehicle deployed at the Thwaites Glacier ice front, to document the ocean-floor imprint of past retreat from a sea-bed promontory. We show patterns of back-stepping sedimentary ridges formed daily by a mechanism of tidal lifting and settling at the grounding line at a time when Thwaites Glacier was more advanced than it is today. Over a duration of 5.5 months, Thwaites grounding zone retreated at a rate of >2.1 km per year—twice the rate observed by satellite at the fastest retreating part of the grounding zone between 2011 and 2019. Our results suggest that sustained pulses of rapid retreat have occurred at Thwaites Glacier in the past two centuries. Similar rapid retreat pulses are likely to occur in the near future when the grounding zone migrates back off stabilizing high points on the sea floor.
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| 4. |
- Oelerich, Ria, et al.
(författare)
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Stirring across the Antarctic Circumpolar Current's southern boundary at the prime meridian, Weddell Sea
- 2023
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Ingår i: Ocean Science. - 1812-0784 .- 1812-0792. ; 19:5, s. 1465-1482
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- At the southern boundary of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), relatively warm ACC waters encounter the colder waters surrounding Antarctica. Strong density gradients across the southern boundary indicate the presence of a frontal jet and are thought to modulate the southward heat transport across the front. In this study, the southern boundary in the Weddell Sea sector at the prime meridian is surveyed for the first time in high resolution over 2 months during an austral summer with underwater gliders occupying a transect across the front on five occasions. The five transects show that the frontal structure (i.e. hydrography, velocities and lateral density gradients) varies temporally. The results demonstrate significant, transient (a few weeks) variability of the southern boundary and its frontal jet in location, strength and width. A mesoscale cold-core eddy is identified to disrupt the southern boundary's frontal structure and strengthen lateral density gradients across the front. The front's barrier properties are assessed using mixing length scales and potential vorticity to establish the cross-frontal exchange of properties between the ACC and the Weddell Gyre. The results show that stronger lateral density gradients caused by the mesoscale eddy strengthen the barrier-like properties of the front through reduced mixing length scales and pronounced gradients of potential vorticity. In contrast, the barrier-like properties of the southern boundary are reduced when no mesoscale eddy is influencing the density gradients across the front. Using satellite altimetry, we further demonstrate that the barrier properties over the past decade have strengthened as a result of increased meridional gradients of absolute dynamic topography and increased frontal jet speeds in comparison to previous decades. Our results emphasise that locally and rapidly changing barrier properties of the southern boundary are important to quantify the cross-frontal exchange, which is particularly relevant in regions where the southern boundary is located near the Antarctic shelf break (e.g. in the West Antarctic sector).
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