HR: 0800h
AN: C51B-0398    [Abstracts]
TI: Modelling the Circulation and Melt/Freeze Beneath the Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica
AU: * Galton-Fenzi, B K
EM: bkgalton@utas.edu.au
AF: Centre for Marine Science, Private Bag 78, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia
AU: * Galton-Fenzi, B K
EM: bkgalton@utas.edu.au
AF: Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC, Private Bag 80, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia
AU: * Galton-Fenzi, B K
EM: bkgalton@utas.edu.au
AF: CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Castray Esplanade, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia
AU: Hunter, J R
EM: john.hunter@utas.edu.au
AF: Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC, Private Bag 80, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia
AU: Coleman, R
EM: richard.coleman@utas.edu.au
AF: Centre for Marine Science, Private Bag 78, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia
AU: Coleman, R
EM: richard.coleman@utas.edu.au
AF: Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC, Private Bag 80, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia
AU: Coleman, R
EM: richard.coleman@utas.edu.au
AF: CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Castray Esplanade, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia
AB: Most of the mass lost from the Antarctic Ice Sheet is via basal melting and iceberg calving from its fringing ice shelves. The overall melting rate has important implications for the stability of ice shelves, water mass formation and the flow of glacial ice from the continent. The Amery Ice Shelf is the third largest ice shelf in Antarctica and receives glacial ice from a drainage basin that covers an area of ~16% of East Antarctica. Studies of the ice/ocean interaction for the Amery Ice Shelf region are presented that use numerical modeling of the circulation and basal melting and freezing. Recently, it has been found that large freshwater subglacial floods, at the base of the ice sheet, can drain directly into the sub-ice-shelf ocean cavity. These events occur on short time scales (months) and may also influence the sub-ice-shelf thermohaline circulation. The numerical model used is the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) which is a three dimensional high resolution hydrodynamic ocean model with ice/ocean thermodynamics. Simulations with ROMS are done to investigate the sensitivity of the circulation and melt/freeze beneath the Amery Ice Shelf to sub glacial flooding at the deep grounding line, and seasonal cycles, by the formation and melting of sea ice in Prydz Bay.
DE: 0728 Ice shelves
DE: 0766 Thermodynamics (1011, 3611, 8411)
DE: 0774 Dynamics
DE: 0798 Modeling
DE: 0799 General or miscellaneous
SC: Cryosphere [C]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting