East Antarctic Grounding Line Experiment (EAGLE)

以往对南极洲印度-太平洋地区的研究表明，该地区的冰盖边缘在过去曾多次进退到深部内陆盆地。该区域的明显不稳定性使其成为了解东南极冰盖和海平面上升未来的重要研究目标。该项目将研究控制该区域冰架稳定性的若干过程，目的是改进对未来海平面上升速度和幅度的预测。这个项目将吸引一系列的学生，并在冰与海洋相互作用的复杂、跨学科问题上培训下一代科学家。该项目将把从飞机上收集的东南极地面线三个关键部分(托滕冰川、登曼冰川和库克冰架)的地球物理数据与先进的海洋模型结合起来。利用澳大利亚和法国的资源，该团队将收集登曼冰川和库克冰架周围的新数据，而对托滕冰川的分析将基于现有数据。该项目将评估三种假设，以分离导致这三个冰川之间观测到的接地线变薄的差异的过程：1.水深测量和大范围海洋强迫控制空洞循环；2.冰架吃水和基本形态控制空洞循环；3.跨接地线的冰下淡水输入控制空洞循环。这一新项目的主要成果将是：1.评估潜在海平面显著贡献地区的冰-海洋耦合；2.将陆冰和浮冰的体积变化与潜在海平面和经向翻转环流影响显著地区的区域海洋热输送和冰架下海洋动力学联系起来；3.改善边界条件，以评估东南极大陆边缘的质量、热量和淡水收支。

Previous studies of the Indo-Pacific region of Antarctica show that the margin of the ice sheet in this region has advanced and retreated into deep interior basins many times in the past. The apparent instability of this region makes it an important target for study in terms of understanding the future of the East Antarctic ice sheet and sea level rise. This project will study a number of processes that control the ice-shelf stability of this region, with the aim of improving projections of the rate and magnitude of future sea-level rise. This project will engage a range of students and train this next generation of scientists in the complex, interdisciplinary issue of ice-ocean interaction.The project will integrate geophysical data collected from aircraft over three criticalsections of the East Antarctic grounding line (Totten Glacier, Denman Glacier, andCook Ice Shelf) with an advanced ocean model. Using Australian and French assets,the team will collect new data around Denman Glacier and Cook Ice Shelf whereas analysis of Totten Glacier will be based on existing data. The project will assess three hypotheses to isolate the processes that drive the differences in observed grounding line thinning among these three glaciers: 1. bathymetry and large-scale ocean forcing control cavity circulation; 2. ice-shelf draft and basal morphology control cavity circulation; 3. subglacial freshwater input across the grounding line controls cavity circulation. The key outcomes of this new project will be to: 1. evaluate of ice-ocean coupling in areas of significant potential sea-level contribution; 2. relate volume changes of grounded and floating ice to regional oceanic heat transport and sub-ice shelf ocean dynamics in areas of significant potential sea-level and meridional overturning circulation impacts; and 3. improve boundary conditions to evaluate mass, heat, and freshwater budgets of East Antarctica's continental margins.