Numerical Simulation of Ocean - Ice Shelf Interaction: Water Mass Circulation in the Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica

Abstract

The interaction between ocean and ice shelf is a critical physical process in relation to water mass transformations and ice shelf melting/freezing at the ocean-ice interface. However, it remains challenging to thoroughly understand the process due to a lack of observational data with respect to ice shelf cavities. This is the first study to simulate the variability and circulation of water mass both overlying the continental shelf and underneath an ice shelf and an ice tongue in the Terra Nova Bay (TNB), East Antarctica. To explore the properties of water mass and circulation patterns in the TNB and the corresponding effects on sub ice shelf basal melting, we explicitly incorporate the dynamic-thermodynamic processes acting on the ice shelf in the Regional Ocean Modeling System. The simulated water mass formation and circulation in the TNB region agree well with previous studies. The model results show that the TNB circulation is dominated by the geostrophic currents driven by lateral density gradients induced by the releasing of brine or freshwater at the polynya of the TNB. Meanwhile, the circulation dynamics in the cavity under the Nansen Ice shelf (NIS) are different from those in the TNB. The gravity-driven bottom current induced by High Salinity Shelf Water(HSSW) formed at the TNB polynya flows towards the grounding line, and the buoyance-driven flow associated with glacial meltwater generated by the HSSW emerges from the cavity along the ice base. Both current systems compose the thermohaline overturning circulation in the NIS cavity. This study estimates the NIS basal melting rate to be 0.98 m/a, which is comparable to the previously observed melt rate. However, the melting rate shows a significant variation in space and time.