The Amundsen Continental Shelf and the Antarctic Ice Sheet

哥伦比亚大学和南安普顿海洋学中心的这项合作研究将调查南极浮冰架下的温水入侵动力学。这项研究将集中在阿蒙森海和松岛冰川上，并将记录这些水如何进入大陆架，通过冰川冲刷的深槽将热量输送到冰架空洞中，并在冰下上升，推动基底融化。由此产生的海水-融水混合物在冰锋附近向上流动，形成了具有强烈地球化学特征的非典型海岸融冰。下游的多年代际更新与冰架变薄相一致，这可能引发内陆的变化，增加了入海的接地冰流量。这项工作将与并行建模、遥感和基于数据的项目结合进行，以努力缩小南极西部冰盖对气候变化响应的不确定性。利用最先进的设施和仪器，这项工作将加强对水的大规模生产和改造的认识，以及对海洋环流、海底和冰架之间相互作用的理解。数据和发现将报告给可公开访问的档案，并提交科学文献发表。所获得的资料对于发展和验证一般环流模式是非常宝贵的，预测南极冰盖在海平面变化中的未来作用是需要这种模式的。

This collaborative study between Columbia University and the Southampton Oceanography Centre will investigate the dynamics of warm water intrusions under antarctic floating ice shelves. The study will focus on the Amundsen Sea and Pine Island Glacier, and will document how this water gains access to the continental shelf, transports heat into the ice shelf cavities via deep, glacially-scoured troughs, and rises beneath the ice to drive basal melting. The resulting seawater-meltwater mixtures upwell near the ice fronts, contributing to the formation of atypical coastal polynyas with strong geochemical signatures. Multidecadal freshening downstream is consistent with thinning ice shelves, which may be triggering changes inland, increasing the flow of grounded ice into the sea. This work will be carried out in combination with parallel modeling, remote sensing and data based projects, in an effort to narrow uncertainties about the response of West Antarctic Ice Sheet to climate change. Using state-of-the-art facilities and instruments, this work will enhance knowledge of water mass production and modification, and the understanding of interactions between the ocean circulation, sea floor and ice shelves. The data and findings will be reported to publicly accessible archives and submitted for publication in the scientific literature. The information obtained should prove invaluable for the development and validation of general circulation models, needed to predict the future role of the Antarctic Ice Sheet in sea level change.