Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Roland C. Warner, Helen A. Fricker, Susheel Adusumilli, Philipp Arndt, Jonathan Kingslake, Julian J. Spergel
Summary: This study demonstrates the potential impact of increasing surface meltwater on Antarctic ice shelves, showing a rapid surface disruption on the southern Amery Ice Shelf in winter 2019. The researchers interpret this as an ice-covered lake draining through the ice shelf, forming an ice doline with significant depth changes. High-resolution geodetic measurements can explore critical fine-scale ice shelf processes such as the draining and refilling of the ice-covered lake.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Junjun Yang, Jingxue Guo, Jamin S. Greenbaum, Xiangbin Cui, Liangcheng Tu, Lin Li, Lenneke M. Jong, Xueyuan Tang, Bingrui Li, Donald D. Blankenship, Jason L. Roberts, Tas Ommen, Bo Sun
Summary: By estimating the bathymetry under the Amery Ice Shelf, researchers discovered important topographic features in the region, including a shoal on the western side and a trough on the eastern side, which play a crucial role in controlling the ocean heat transport into the sub-ice cavity.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Geography, Physical
Li Wu, David J. Wilson, Rujian Wang, Sandra Passchier, Wout Krijgsman, Xun Yu, Tingyu Wen, Wenshen Xiao, Zhifei Liu
Summary: The study explored the dynamics of the Lambert Glacier-Amery Ice Shelf system over the past approximately 520 thousand years using high-resolution sedimentary records. It was found that the system's response was sensitive to oceanic forcing and local summer insolation, with potential additional modulation by subglacial bed topography. The records indicate that the system advanced more extensively during previous late Quaternary glacial periods than during Marine Isotope Stages 2 and 4, and retreated more significantly during Marine Isotope Stage 13.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Zhaohui Chi, Andrew Klein
Summary: Research has shown a massive iceberg broke off the west side of the Amery Ice Shelf in East Antarctica in 2019. Mapping eight calving front locations of the AIS from 1973 to 2018 revealed an increased advancement rate, while the unstable propagation of rift A from 2012 to 2015 and the significantly faster propagation rate of rift A1 from 2015 to 2017 may have been precursors to the large calving event.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Shujie Wang, Patrick Alexander, Qiusheng Wu, Marco Tedesco, Song Shu
Summary: This study developed an object-oriented algorithm to automatically detect and characterize fracture features on the Amery Ice Shelf using ICESat-2 data. By analyzing the vertical structural information of fractures, it was found that fracture depth plays a key role in the formation of new fractures and their spatial pattern. The findings highlight the importance of combining vertical information from ICESat-2 with horizontal structure retrieved from satellite imagery for understanding fracture formation and ice shelf vulnerability.
REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Manuel Bensi, Vedrana Kovacevic, Federica Donda, Philip Edward O'Brien, Linda Armbrecht, Leanne Kay Armand
Summary: Current glacier melt rates in West Antarctica are higher than those around the East Antarctic margin. Wilkes Land is an exception, where significant retreat of Totten Glacier has been observed. Ocean dynamics strongly influence this process, which in turn is affected by the evolution of the ice caps. New oceanographic data collected from the Sabrina Coast in East Antarctica during the summer of 2017 provides insights into the water masses and morphology of the area.
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE DATA
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Helen Amanda Fricker, Philipp Arndt, Kelly M. Brunt, Rajashree Tri Datta, Zachary Fair, Michael F. Jasinski, Jonathan Kingslake, Lori A. Magruder, Mahsa Moussavi, Allen Pope, Julian J. Spergel, Jeremy D. Stoll, Bert Wouters
Summary: The surface melting on the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets can now be quantified more accurately using NASA's ICESat-2 laser altimeter, which provides depth estimates for surface meltwater. This new capability helps improve image-based algorithms for depth estimation.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Geography, Physical
Kazuya Kusahara, Daisuke Hirano, Masakazu Fujii, Alexander D. Fraser, Takeshi Tamura
Summary: This study investigates the basal melting of Antarctic ice shelves in different regions using simulation methods, revealing the mechanisms and seasonal variations of CDW intrusion in different regions of Antarctica, and discussing the impact of fast ice on the marine environment in the bay.
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Qi Liang, Chunxia Zhou, Lei Zheng
Summary: This study analyzes the impact of basal melt rate on ice shelf buttressing effect and discharge of grounded ice into the ocean. By utilizing a Lagrangian framework, the researchers improved the derivation of basal melt rate and applied it to a case study of the Shackleton ice shelf, providing more spatially coherent patterns of ice shelf surface elevation changes and reducing uncertainty in basal melt rate calculation.
IEEE JOURNAL OF SELECTED TOPICS IN APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATIONS AND REMOTE SENSING
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jennifer F. Arthur, Chris R. Stokes, Stewart S. R. Jamieson, J. Rachel Carr, Amber A. Leeson, Vincent Verjans
Summary: Observations of Antarctic supraglacial lakes (SGLs) are relatively scarce and their interannual variability is largely unknown. This study provides the first observations of SGLs across the entire East Antarctic Ice Sheet over multiple melt seasons. The results show that SGL volume varies greatly from year to year on some ice shelves, with more extensive and deeper lakes associated with higher summer air temperatures. Model predictions suggest that January melt and the ratio of November firn air content to summer melt are important predictors of SGL volume on vulnerable ice shelves.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Geography, Physical
Julian J. Spergel, Jonathan Kingslake, Timothy Creyts, Melchior van Wessem, Helen A. Fricker
Summary: Surface melting on the Amery Ice Shelf in East Antarctica forms a large supraglacial drainage system, connecting lakes through surface channels. Weak positive relationships were found between modeled meltwater input and lake area/volume. Consecutive years of extensive melting lead to the expansion of the drainage system, highlighting the importance of evaluating drainage systems' potential response to increased melting.
JOURNAL OF GLACIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yang Wu, Zhaomin Wang, Chengyan Liu, Liangjun Yan
Summary: The study found that the available potential energy is the largest energy reservoir in the Amery Ice Shelf cavity, followed by the mean kinetic energy and eddy available potential energy, while the eddy kinetic energy is the smallest pool. Energy is mainly generated through basal melting and seawater refreezing, and then dissipated by ocean-ice shelf and ocean-bottom drag stresses.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Geography, Physical
Bertie W. J. Miles, Chris R. Stokes, Adrian Jenkins, Jim R. Jordan, Stewart S. R. Jamieson, G. Hilmar Gudmundsson
Summary: Increased wind-forced intrusions of modified Circumpolar Deep Water (mCDW) have caused mass loss in West Antarctica and Wilkes Land, East Antarctica. However, observations in 2018 show that the Shirase Glacier in Enderby Land, East Antarctica has experienced a dynamical ocean-driven slowdown, ice surface thickening, and grounding line advance due to strengthening easterly winds that reduce mCDW inflow. This highlights the overlooked role of easterly winds in the recent mass gain of the Shirase Glacier catchment.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Derui Xu, Xueyuan Tang, Shuhu Yang, Yun Zhang, Lijuan Wang, Lin Li, Bo Sun
Summary: In this paper, the recent ice flux and mass balance of the Lambert Glacier were systematically analyzed. The study revealed positive accumulation in the middle region of the glacier, but the values have decreased compared to the early 2000s.
Article
Geography, Physical
Yu Wang, Chen Zhao, Rupert Gladstone, Ben Galton-Fenzi, Roland Warner
Summary: This study evaluates and analyzes the thermal structure and spatial pattern of the Amery Ice Shelf (AIS) in East Antarctica using borehole observations and numerical simulations. The study reveals the presence of a near-isothermal basal layer and large temperature gradients in the marine ice area. It also highlights the influence of temperature distribution on ice shelf dynamics and suggests the existence of similar thermal structures in other Antarctic ice shelves. The limitations in the simulations and the need for improved models are identified.
Article
Geography, Physical
Alexander D. Fraser, Melissa A. Nigro, Stefan R. M. Ligtenberg, Benoit Legresy, Mana Inoue, John J. Cassano, Peter Kuipers Munneke, Jan T. M. Lenaerts, Neal W. Young, Adam Treverrow, Michiel Van Den Broeke, Hiroyuki Enomot
JOURNAL OF GLACIOLOGY
(2016)
Article
Oceanography
L. Herraiz-Borreguero, D. Lannuzel, P. van der Merwe, A. Treverrow, J. B. Pedro
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-OCEANS
(2016)
Article
Geography, Physical
Hannes Hollmann, Adam Treverrow, Leo E. Peters, Anya M. Reading, Bernd Kulessa
Summary: The study found that the suture zone significantly affects the thickness, velocity, and seismic properties of firn, and transverse simple shear may be the dominant mechanism of basal ice flow in the region. Future research needs to integrate seismic refraction, coring, and modeling studies to confirm and quantify the dynamic coupling between firn and underlying ice.
JOURNAL OF GLACIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Roland C. Warner, Helen A. Fricker, Susheel Adusumilli, Philipp Arndt, Jonathan Kingslake, Julian J. Spergel
Summary: This study demonstrates the potential impact of increasing surface meltwater on Antarctic ice shelves, showing a rapid surface disruption on the southern Amery Ice Shelf in winter 2019. The researchers interpret this as an ice-covered lake draining through the ice shelf, forming an ice doline with significant depth changes. High-resolution geodetic measurements can explore critical fine-scale ice shelf processes such as the draining and refilling of the ice-covered lake.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
F. S. McCormack, R. C. Warner, H. Seroussi, C. F. Dow, J. L. Roberts, A. Treverrow
Summary: In this study, we compare the deformation regimes of Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica, using the Glen and Empirical Scalar Tertiary Anisotropy Regime (ESTAR) flow relations. We find that ESTAR provides a more accurate description of deformation under long-term, nearly steady flows compared to the Glen flow relation. ESTAR predicts more vertical shear deformation, leading to faster flow over most of the Thwaites catchment, especially in slow-moving regions where the Glen relation predicts unrealistic sliding. ESTAR also matches better with observed surface speeds on the floating Thwaites Glacier Tongue. Our results highlight the importance of improved descriptions of deformation in accurately modeling ice flow.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-EARTH SURFACE
(2022)
Article
Geography, Physical
Lisa Craw, Felicity S. McCormack, Sue Cook, Jason Roberts, Adam Treverrow
Summary: Understanding the behavior of ice shelves, particularly the influence of marine ice, is crucial for predicting the contribution of ice sheets to sea level rise. This study found that the thermal distribution of ice shelves has a greater effect on ice mass flux and thinning than the mechanical properties of marine ice.
JOURNAL OF GLACIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Geography, Physical
Yu Wang, Chen Zhao, Rupert Gladstone, Ben Galton-Fenzi, Roland Warner
Summary: This study evaluates and analyzes the thermal structure and spatial pattern of the Amery Ice Shelf (AIS) in East Antarctica using borehole observations and numerical simulations. The study reveals the presence of a near-isothermal basal layer and large temperature gradients in the marine ice area. It also highlights the influence of temperature distribution on ice shelf dynamics and suggests the existence of similar thermal structures in other Antarctic ice shelves. The limitations in the simulations and the need for improved models are identified.
Article
Geography, Physical
Lisa Craw, Adam Treverrow, Sheng Fan, Mark Peternell, Sue Cook, Felicity McCormack, Jason Roberts
Summary: Understanding the mechanical properties of flowing ice is crucial for modeling ice dynamics and predicting future behavior. By conducting deformation experiments on ice in laboratories, we can enhance our understanding of its physical properties. Changing the temperature mid-experiment can reduce total run-time without significant bias in results, with noticeable microstructural differences observed between smaller and larger temperature step experiments.
Article
Geography, Physical
Felicity S. Graham, Mathieu Morlighem, Roland C. Warner, Adam Treverrow
Article
Geography, Physical
Rupert Michael Gladstone, Roland Charles Warner, Benjamin Keith Galton-Fenzi, Olivier Gagliardini, Thomas Zwinger, Ralf Greve
Review
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Adam Treverrow, Li Jun, Tim H. Jacka
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE DATA
(2016)
Article
Geography, Physical
Chen Zhao, Rupert M. Gladstone, Roland C. Warner, Matt A. King, Thomas Zwinger, Mathieu Morlighem
Article
Geography, Physical
Chen Zhao, Rupert M. Gladstone, Roland C. Warner, Matt A. King, Thomas Zwinger, Mathieu Morlighem