Signal: Antarctica ice shelf loss

Stronger ocean circulation and increased melting under Pine Island Glacier ice shelf

by on 27. Jun, 2011 in

In 1994, ocean measurements near Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier showed that the ice shelf buttressing the glacier was melting rapidly1. This melting was attributed to the presence of relatively warm, deep water on the Amundsen Sea continental shelf. Heat, salt and ice budgets along with ocean modelling provided steady-state calving and melting rates2, 3. Subsequent [...]

PineIslandGlacier

Melting accelerating for Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier Ice Shelf

by on 27. Jun, 2011 in Uncategorized

Stronger ocean currents beneath West Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier Ice Shelf are eroding the ice from below, speeding the melting of the glacier as a whole, according to a new study in Nature Geoscience. A growing cavity beneath the ice shelf has allowed more warm water to melt the ice, the researchers say—a process that [...]