Ocean variability beneath Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf driven by the Pine Island Bay Gyre strength

Tiago S. Dotto; Karen J. Heywood; Rob A. Hall; Ted A. Scambos; Yixi  Zheng; Yoshihiro Nakayama; Shuntaro Hyogo; Tasha Snow; Anna K. Wåhlin; Christian Wild; Martin Truffer; Atsuhiro Muto; Karen E. Alley; Lars Boehme; Guilherme Augusto Bortolotto; Scott W. Tyler; Erin Pettit

doi:10.1038/s41467-022-35499-5

Ocean variability beneath Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf driven by the Pine Island Bay Gyre strength

Tiago S. Dotto^*, Karen J. Heywood, Rob A. Hall, Ted A. Scambos, Yixi Zheng, Yoshihiro Nakayama, Shuntaro Hyogo, Tasha Snow, Anna K. Wåhlin, Christian Wild, Martin Truffer, Atsuhiro Muto, Karen E. Alley, Lars Boehme, Guilherme Augusto Bortolotto, Scott W. Tyler, Erin Pettit

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

West Antarctic ice-shelf thinning is primarily caused by ocean-driven basal melting. Here we assess ocean variability below Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf (TEIS) and reveal the importance of local ocean circulation and sea-ice. Measurements obtained from two sub-ice-shelf moorings, spanning January 2020 to March 2021, show warming of the ice-shelf cavity and an increase in meltwater fraction of the upper sub-ice layer. Combined with ocean modelling results, our observations suggest that meltwater from Pine Island Ice Shelf feeds into the TEIS cavity, adding to horizontal heat transport there. We propose that a weakening of the Pine Island Bay gyre caused by prolonged sea-ice cover from April 2020 to March 2021 allowed meltwater-enriched waters to enter the TEIS cavity, which increased the temperature of the upper layer. Our study highlights the sensitivity of ocean circulation beneath ice shelves to local atmosphere-sea-ice-ocean forcing in neighbouring open oceans.

Original language	English
Article number	7840
Number of pages	13
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	13
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35499-5
Publication status	Published - 21 Dec 2022
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Antarctic Regions
Atmosphere
Bays
Caspase 1
Hot Temperature
Ice Cover
Oceans and Seas
Temperature

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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ArticleFinal published version, 5.31 MBLicence: CC BY
Supplementary InformationData, 1.72 MBLicence: CC BY
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Dotto, T. S., Heywood, K. J., Hall, R. A., Scambos, T. A., Zheng, Y., Nakayama, Y., Hyogo, S., Snow, T., Wåhlin, A. K., Wild, C., Truffer, M., Muto, A., Alley, K. E., Boehme, L., Bortolotto, G. A., Tyler, S. W., & Pettit, E. (2022). Ocean variability beneath Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf driven by the Pine Island Bay Gyre strength. Nature Communications, 13(1), Article 7840. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35499-5

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title = "Ocean variability beneath Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf driven by the Pine Island Bay Gyre strength",

abstract = "West Antarctic ice-shelf thinning is primarily caused by ocean-driven basal melting. Here we assess ocean variability below Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf (TEIS) and reveal the importance of local ocean circulation and sea-ice. Measurements obtained from two sub-ice-shelf moorings, spanning January 2020 to March 2021, show warming of the ice-shelf cavity and an increase in meltwater fraction of the upper sub-ice layer. Combined with ocean modelling results, our observations suggest that meltwater from Pine Island Ice Shelf feeds into the TEIS cavity, adding to horizontal heat transport there. We propose that a weakening of the Pine Island Bay gyre caused by prolonged sea-ice cover from April 2020 to March 2021 allowed meltwater-enriched waters to enter the TEIS cavity, which increased the temperature of the upper layer. Our study highlights the sensitivity of ocean circulation beneath ice shelves to local atmosphere-sea-ice-ocean forcing in neighbouring open oceans.",

keywords = "Antarctic Regions, Atmosphere, Bays, Caspase 1, Hot Temperature, Ice Cover, Oceans and Seas, Temperature",

author = "Dotto, {Tiago S.} and Heywood, {Karen J.} and Hall, {Rob A.} and Scambos, {Ted A.} and Yixi Zheng and Yoshihiro Nakayama and Shuntaro Hyogo and Tasha Snow and W{\aa}hlin, {Anna K.} and Christian Wild and Martin Truffer and Atsuhiro Muto and Alley, {Karen E.} and Lars Boehme and Bortolotto, {Guilherme Augusto} and Tyler, {Scott W.} and Erin Pettit",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022, The Author(s).",

year = "2022",

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Dotto, TS, Heywood, KJ, Hall, RA, Scambos, TA, Zheng, Y, Nakayama, Y, Hyogo, S, Snow, T, Wåhlin, AK, Wild, C, Truffer, M, Muto, A, Alley, KE, Boehme, L, Bortolotto, GA, Tyler, SW & Pettit, E 2022, 'Ocean variability beneath Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf driven by the Pine Island Bay Gyre strength', Nature Communications, vol. 13, no. 1, 7840. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35499-5

TY - JOUR

T1 - Ocean variability beneath Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf driven by the Pine Island Bay Gyre strength

AU - Dotto, Tiago S.

AU - Heywood, Karen J.

AU - Hall, Rob A.

AU - Scambos, Ted A.

AU - Zheng, Yixi

AU - Nakayama, Yoshihiro

AU - Hyogo, Shuntaro

AU - Snow, Tasha

AU - Wåhlin, Anna K.

AU - Wild, Christian

AU - Truffer, Martin

AU - Muto, Atsuhiro

AU - Alley, Karen E.

AU - Boehme, Lars

AU - Bortolotto, Guilherme Augusto

AU - Tyler, Scott W.

AU - Pettit, Erin

PY - 2022/12/21

Y1 - 2022/12/21

N2 - West Antarctic ice-shelf thinning is primarily caused by ocean-driven basal melting. Here we assess ocean variability below Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf (TEIS) and reveal the importance of local ocean circulation and sea-ice. Measurements obtained from two sub-ice-shelf moorings, spanning January 2020 to March 2021, show warming of the ice-shelf cavity and an increase in meltwater fraction of the upper sub-ice layer. Combined with ocean modelling results, our observations suggest that meltwater from Pine Island Ice Shelf feeds into the TEIS cavity, adding to horizontal heat transport there. We propose that a weakening of the Pine Island Bay gyre caused by prolonged sea-ice cover from April 2020 to March 2021 allowed meltwater-enriched waters to enter the TEIS cavity, which increased the temperature of the upper layer. Our study highlights the sensitivity of ocean circulation beneath ice shelves to local atmosphere-sea-ice-ocean forcing in neighbouring open oceans.

AB - West Antarctic ice-shelf thinning is primarily caused by ocean-driven basal melting. Here we assess ocean variability below Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf (TEIS) and reveal the importance of local ocean circulation and sea-ice. Measurements obtained from two sub-ice-shelf moorings, spanning January 2020 to March 2021, show warming of the ice-shelf cavity and an increase in meltwater fraction of the upper sub-ice layer. Combined with ocean modelling results, our observations suggest that meltwater from Pine Island Ice Shelf feeds into the TEIS cavity, adding to horizontal heat transport there. We propose that a weakening of the Pine Island Bay gyre caused by prolonged sea-ice cover from April 2020 to March 2021 allowed meltwater-enriched waters to enter the TEIS cavity, which increased the temperature of the upper layer. Our study highlights the sensitivity of ocean circulation beneath ice shelves to local atmosphere-sea-ice-ocean forcing in neighbouring open oceans.

KW - Antarctic Regions

KW - Atmosphere

KW - Bays

KW - Caspase 1

KW - Hot Temperature

KW - Ice Cover

KW - Oceans and Seas

KW - Temperature

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SN - 2041-1723

VL - 13

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

IS - 1

M1 - 7840

ER -

Ocean variability beneath Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf driven by the Pine Island Bay Gyre strength

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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