Modelling the response of ice shelf basal melting to different ocean cavity environmental regimes
نویسندگان
چکیده
We present simulation results from a version of the Regional OceanModeling Systemmodified for ice shelf/ocean interaction, including the parameterisation of basal melting bymolecular diffusion alone. Simulations investigate the differences in melting for an idealised ice shelf experiencing a range of cold to hot ocean cavity conditions. Both the pattern of melt and the location of maximummelt shift due to changes in the buoyancy-driven circulation, in a different way to previous studies. Tidal forcing increases both the circulation strength and melting, with the strongest impact on the cold cavity case. Our results highlight the importance of including a complete melt parameterisation and tidal forcing. In response to the 2.4°C ocean warming initially applied to a cold cavity ice shelf, we find that melting will increase by about an order of magnitude (24 × with tides and 41 ×without tides).
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