Effects of calving and submarine melting on steady states and stability of buttressed marine ice sheets
Mass loss from ice shelves is a strong control on grounding-line dynamics. Here we investigate how calving and submarine melt parameterizations affect steady-state grounding-line positions and their stability. Our results indicate that different calving laws with the same melt parameterization resul...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2022-12-01
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Series: | Journal of Glaciology |
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Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143022000296/type/journal_article |
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author | Marianne Haseloff Olga V. Sergienko |
author_facet | Marianne Haseloff Olga V. Sergienko |
author_sort | Marianne Haseloff |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Mass loss from ice shelves is a strong control on grounding-line dynamics. Here we investigate how calving and submarine melt parameterizations affect steady-state grounding-line positions and their stability. Our results indicate that different calving laws with the same melt parameterization result in more diverse steady-state ice-sheet configurations than different melt parameterizations with the same calving law. We show that the backstress at the grounding line depends on the integrated ice-shelf mass flux. Consequently, ice shelves are most sensitive to high melt rates in the vicinity of their grounding lines. For the same shelf-averaged melt rates, different melt parameterizations can lead to very different ice-shelf configurations and grounding-line positions. If the melt rate depends on the slope of the ice-shelf draft, then the positive feedback between increased melting and steepening of the slope can lead to singular melt rates at the ice-shelf front, producing an apparent lower limit of the shelf front thickness as the ice thickness vanishes over a small boundary layer. Our results illustrate that the evolution of marine ice sheets is highly dependent on ice-shelf mass loss mechanisms, and that existing parameterizations can lead to a wide range of modelled grounding-line behaviours. |
first_indexed | 2024-04-10T04:39:41Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-822986f11c7142d5b94cf8406858df67 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-04-10T04:39:41Z |
publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
publisher | Cambridge University Press |
record_format | Article |
series | Journal of Glaciology |
spelling | doaj.art-822986f11c7142d5b94cf8406858df672023-03-09T12:41:19ZengCambridge University PressJournal of Glaciology0022-14301727-56522022-12-01681149116610.1017/jog.2022.29Effects of calving and submarine melting on steady states and stability of buttressed marine ice sheetsMarianne Haseloff0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6576-5384Olga V. Sergienko1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5764-8815Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UKAtmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USAMass loss from ice shelves is a strong control on grounding-line dynamics. Here we investigate how calving and submarine melt parameterizations affect steady-state grounding-line positions and their stability. Our results indicate that different calving laws with the same melt parameterization result in more diverse steady-state ice-sheet configurations than different melt parameterizations with the same calving law. We show that the backstress at the grounding line depends on the integrated ice-shelf mass flux. Consequently, ice shelves are most sensitive to high melt rates in the vicinity of their grounding lines. For the same shelf-averaged melt rates, different melt parameterizations can lead to very different ice-shelf configurations and grounding-line positions. If the melt rate depends on the slope of the ice-shelf draft, then the positive feedback between increased melting and steepening of the slope can lead to singular melt rates at the ice-shelf front, producing an apparent lower limit of the shelf front thickness as the ice thickness vanishes over a small boundary layer. Our results illustrate that the evolution of marine ice sheets is highly dependent on ice-shelf mass loss mechanisms, and that existing parameterizations can lead to a wide range of modelled grounding-line behaviours.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143022000296/type/journal_articleCalvingice dynamicsice/ocean interactionsice-sheet modellingice shelves |
spellingShingle | Marianne Haseloff Olga V. Sergienko Effects of calving and submarine melting on steady states and stability of buttressed marine ice sheets Journal of Glaciology Calving ice dynamics ice/ocean interactions ice-sheet modelling ice shelves |
title | Effects of calving and submarine melting on steady states and stability of buttressed marine ice sheets |
title_full | Effects of calving and submarine melting on steady states and stability of buttressed marine ice sheets |
title_fullStr | Effects of calving and submarine melting on steady states and stability of buttressed marine ice sheets |
title_full_unstemmed | Effects of calving and submarine melting on steady states and stability of buttressed marine ice sheets |
title_short | Effects of calving and submarine melting on steady states and stability of buttressed marine ice sheets |
title_sort | effects of calving and submarine melting on steady states and stability of buttressed marine ice sheets |
topic | Calving ice dynamics ice/ocean interactions ice-sheet modelling ice shelves |
url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143022000296/type/journal_article |
work_keys_str_mv | AT mariannehaseloff effectsofcalvingandsubmarinemeltingonsteadystatesandstabilityofbuttressedmarineicesheets AT olgavsergienko effectsofcalvingandsubmarinemeltingonsteadystatesandstabilityofbuttressedmarineicesheets |