Publication Abstracts

Arnscheidt et al. 2021

Arnscheidt, C.W., J. Marshall, P. Dutrieux, C.D. Rye, and A. Ramadhan, 2021: On the settling depth of meltwater escaping from beneath Antarctic ice shelves. J. Phys. Oceanogr., 51, no. 7, 2257-2270, doi:10.1175/JPO-D-20-0286.1.

Antarctic glacial meltwater is thought to play an important role in determining large-scale Southern Ocean climate trends, yet recent modeling efforts have proceeded without a good understanding of how its vertical distribution in the water column is set. To rectify this, here we conduct new large-eddy simulations of the ascent of a buoyant meltwater plume after its escape from beneath an Antarctic ice shelf. We find that the meltwater's settling depth is primarily a function of the buoyancy forcing per unit width of the source and the ambient stratification, consistent with the classical theory of turbulent buoyant plumes and in contrast to previous work that suggested an important role for centrifugal instability. Our results further highlight the significant role played by localized variability in stratification; this helps explain observed interannual variability in the vertical meltwater distribution near Pine Island Glacier. Because of the vast heterogeneity in mass loss rates and ambient conditions at different Antarctic ice shelves, a dynamic parameterization of meltwater settling depth may be crucial for accurately simulating high-latitude climate in a warming world; we discuss how this may be developed following this work, and where the remaining challenges lie.

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BibTeX Citation

@article{ar01200v,
  author={Arnscheidt, C. W. and Marshall, J. and Dutrieux, P. and Rye, C. D. and Ramadhan, A.},
  title={On the settling depth of meltwater escaping from beneath Antarctic ice shelves},
  year={2021},
  journal={Journal of Physical Oceanography},
  volume={51},
  number={7},
  pages={2257--2270},
  doi={10.1175/JPO-D-20-0286.1},
}

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RIS Citation

TY  - JOUR
ID  - ar01200v
AU  - Arnscheidt, C. W.
AU  - Marshall, J.
AU  - Dutrieux, P.
AU  - Rye, C. D.
AU  - Ramadhan, A.
PY  - 2021
TI  - On the settling depth of meltwater escaping from beneath Antarctic ice shelves
JA  - J. Phys. Oceanogr.
JO  - Journal of Physical Oceanography
VL  - 51
IS  - 7
SP  - 2257
EP  - 2270
DO  - 10.1175/JPO-D-20-0286.1
ER  -

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