Estimating marine ice thickness beneath the Amery Ice Shelf from airborne radio-echo sounding
Ice shelves affect the stability of ice sheets by supporting the mass balance of ice upstream of the grounding line. Marine ice, formed from supercooled water freezing at the base of ice shelves, contributes to mass gain and affects ice dynamics. Direct measurements of marine ice thickness are rare...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Glaciology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143025000425/type/journal_article |
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| author | Lijuan Wang Xueyuan Tang Jingxue Guo Gang Qiao Lu An Lin Li Jamin S. Greenbaum Christina Hulbe Feras A. Habbal Lenneke M. Jong Tas van Ommen Jason L. Roberts Duncan A. Young Donald D. Blankenship Bo Sun |
| author_facet | Lijuan Wang Xueyuan Tang Jingxue Guo Gang Qiao Lu An Lin Li Jamin S. Greenbaum Christina Hulbe Feras A. Habbal Lenneke M. Jong Tas van Ommen Jason L. Roberts Duncan A. Young Donald D. Blankenship Bo Sun |
| author_sort | Lijuan Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Ice shelves affect the stability of ice sheets by supporting the mass balance of ice upstream of the grounding line. Marine ice, formed from supercooled water freezing at the base of ice shelves, contributes to mass gain and affects ice dynamics. Direct measurements of marine ice thickness are rare due to the challenges of borehole drilling. Here we assume hydrostatic equilibrium to estimate marine ice distribution beneath the Amery Ice Shelf (AIS) using meteoric ice-thickness data obtained from radio-echo sounding collected during the Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition between 2015 and 2019. This is the first mapping of marine ice beneath the AIS in nearly 20 years. Our new estimates of marine ice along two longitudinal bands beneath the northwest AIS are spatially consistent with earlier work but thicker. We also find a marine ice layer exceeding 30 m of thickness in the central ice shelf and patchy refreezing downstream of the grounding line. Thickness differences from prior results may indicate time-variation in basal melting and freezing patterns driven by polynya activity and coastal water intrusions masses under the ice shelf, highlighting that those changes in ice–ocean interaction are impacting ice-shelf stability. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-585ee74d70014beb8c874ee4c4b2c41e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Glaciology |
| spelling | doaj-art-585ee74d70014beb8c874ee4c4b2c41e2025-08-20T03:45:14ZengCambridge University PressJournal of Glaciology0022-14301727-56522025-01-017110.1017/jog.2025.42Estimating marine ice thickness beneath the Amery Ice Shelf from airborne radio-echo soundingLijuan Wang0https://orcid.org/0009-0007-9411-7961Xueyuan Tang1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6226-4891Jingxue Guo2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7761-8819Gang Qiao3Lu An4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3507-5953Lin Li5Jamin S. Greenbaum6Christina Hulbe7Feras A. Habbal8Lenneke M. Jong9https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6707-570XTas van Ommen10https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2463-1718Jason L. Roberts11Duncan A. Young12Donald D. Blankenship13Bo Sun14Center for Spatial Information Science and Sustainable Development Applications, Tongji University, Shanghai, China College of Surveying and Geo-Informatics, Tongji University, Shanghai, China Key Laboratory of Polar Science, MNR, Polar Research Institute of China, Shanghai, China National School of Surveying, University of Otago, Dunedin, New ZealandKey Laboratory of Polar Science, MNR, Polar Research Institute of China, Shanghai, China School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, ChinaKey Laboratory of Polar Science, MNR, Polar Research Institute of China, Shanghai, ChinaCenter for Spatial Information Science and Sustainable Development Applications, Tongji University, Shanghai, China College of Surveying and Geo-Informatics, Tongji University, Shanghai, ChinaCenter for Spatial Information Science and Sustainable Development Applications, Tongji University, Shanghai, China College of Surveying and Geo-Informatics, Tongji University, Shanghai, ChinaKey Laboratory of Polar Science, MNR, Polar Research Institute of China, Shanghai, ChinaScripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USANational School of Surveying, University of Otago, Dunedin, New ZealandOden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USAAustralian Antarctic Division, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Kingston, TAS, AustraliaAustralian Antarctic Division, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Kingston, TAS, AustraliaAustralian Antarctic Division, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Kingston, TAS, AustraliaInstitute for Geophysics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USAInstitute for Geophysics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USAKey Laboratory of Polar Science, MNR, Polar Research Institute of China, Shanghai, ChinaIce shelves affect the stability of ice sheets by supporting the mass balance of ice upstream of the grounding line. Marine ice, formed from supercooled water freezing at the base of ice shelves, contributes to mass gain and affects ice dynamics. Direct measurements of marine ice thickness are rare due to the challenges of borehole drilling. Here we assume hydrostatic equilibrium to estimate marine ice distribution beneath the Amery Ice Shelf (AIS) using meteoric ice-thickness data obtained from radio-echo sounding collected during the Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition between 2015 and 2019. This is the first mapping of marine ice beneath the AIS in nearly 20 years. Our new estimates of marine ice along two longitudinal bands beneath the northwest AIS are spatially consistent with earlier work but thicker. We also find a marine ice layer exceeding 30 m of thickness in the central ice shelf and patchy refreezing downstream of the grounding line. Thickness differences from prior results may indicate time-variation in basal melting and freezing patterns driven by polynya activity and coastal water intrusions masses under the ice shelf, highlighting that those changes in ice–ocean interaction are impacting ice-shelf stability.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143025000425/type/journal_articleAmery Ice ShelfEast Antarcticahydrostatic equilibriummarine ice thicknessradio-echo sounding |
| spellingShingle | Lijuan Wang Xueyuan Tang Jingxue Guo Gang Qiao Lu An Lin Li Jamin S. Greenbaum Christina Hulbe Feras A. Habbal Lenneke M. Jong Tas van Ommen Jason L. Roberts Duncan A. Young Donald D. Blankenship Bo Sun Estimating marine ice thickness beneath the Amery Ice Shelf from airborne radio-echo sounding Journal of Glaciology Amery Ice Shelf East Antarctica hydrostatic equilibrium marine ice thickness radio-echo sounding |
| title | Estimating marine ice thickness beneath the Amery Ice Shelf from airborne radio-echo sounding |
| title_full | Estimating marine ice thickness beneath the Amery Ice Shelf from airborne radio-echo sounding |
| title_fullStr | Estimating marine ice thickness beneath the Amery Ice Shelf from airborne radio-echo sounding |
| title_full_unstemmed | Estimating marine ice thickness beneath the Amery Ice Shelf from airborne radio-echo sounding |
| title_short | Estimating marine ice thickness beneath the Amery Ice Shelf from airborne radio-echo sounding |
| title_sort | estimating marine ice thickness beneath the amery ice shelf from airborne radio echo sounding |
| topic | Amery Ice Shelf East Antarctica hydrostatic equilibrium marine ice thickness radio-echo sounding |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143025000425/type/journal_article |
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