Oct 10, 2017
Channelized Melting Drives Thinning Under a Rapidly Melting Antarctic Ice Shelf
by
,
Geophysical Research Letters
- States that ice shelves act as safety bands around the Antarctic ice sheet
- Many ice shelves are currently thinning, leading to acceleration of the grounded ice behind
- Shows that ice shelves' thinning is stronger along a channel structure formed by the ocean circulation under the ice shelf
- Finds that the thinning is 3 times higher than the ice shelf's average, hence leading to a more rapid weakening of the ice shelf
- Provides evidence of basal melt-driven sub-ice shelf channel formation and its potential for accelerating the weakening of ice shelves