Roughness of Ice Shelves Is Correlated With Basal Melt Rates
Roughness of Ice Shelves Is Correlated With Basal Melt Rates
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DOI：
10.1029/2021gl094743
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发表时间：
2021-06
影响因子：
5.2
通讯作者：
Ray H. Watkins;J. Bassis;M. D. Thoulesss
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Ray H. Watkins;J. Bassis;M. D. Thoulesss
冰架崩塌可能会引发南极冰盖的海洋部分的广泛退缩。然而，人们对控制冰架稳定性的过程知之甚少。最近的观测表明，冰架的地形特征跨越了一系列波长，包括底部通道和裂缝。在这里，我们使用探地雷达数据来量化冰架内部和之间的粗糙度模式。我们发现，粗糙度遵循幂律的标度指数近似恒定的冰架之间。然而，冰架之间的粗糙程度几乎相差一个数量级。至关重要的是，我们发现，粗糙度与基础熔体密切相关，这表明，增加熔体不仅会导致更大的熔体通道，但也增加断裂，裂谷和冰架稳定性下降。这暗示着冰架的机械稳定性可能比以前认为的更严格地受到海洋强迫的控制。
Ice shelf collapse could trigger widespread retreat of marine‐based portions of the Antarctic ice sheet. However, little is known about the processes that control the stability of ice shelves. Recent observations have revealed that ice shelves have topographic features that span a spectrum of wavelengths, including basal channels and crevasses. Here we use ground‐penetrating radar data to quantify patterns of roughness within and between ice shelves. We find that roughness follows a power law with the scaling exponent approximately constant between ice shelves. However, the level of roughness varies by nearly an order of magnitude between ice shelves. Critically, we find that roughness strongly correlates with basal melt, suggesting that increased melt not only leads to larger melt channels, but also to increased fracturing, rifting and decreased ice shelf stability. This hints that the mechanical stability of ice shelves may be more tightly controlled by ocean forcing than previously thought.