Baroclinic ocean response to climate forcing regulates decadal variability of 
ice-shelf melting in the Amundsen Sea

Silvano, Alessandro; Holland, Paul; Naughten, Kaitlin; Dragomir, Oana; Dutrieux, Pierre; Jenkins, Adrian; Si, Yidongfang; Stewart, Andrew; Peña Molino, Beatriz; Janzing, Gregor; Dotto, Tiago; Naveira Garabato, Alberto

doi:10.57757/IUGG23-0161

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Baroclinic ocean response to climate forcing regulates decadal variability of ice-shelf melting in the Amundsen Sea

Authors

Silvano, Alessandro
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Holland, Paul
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Naughten, Kaitlin
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Dragomir, Oana
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Dutrieux, Pierre
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Jenkins, Adrian
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Si, Yidongfang
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Stewart, Andrew
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Peña Molino, Beatriz
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Janzing, Gregor
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Dotto, Tiago
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Naveira Garabato, Alberto
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

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Citation

Silvano, A., Holland, P., Naughten, K., Dragomir, O., Dutrieux, P., Jenkins, A., Si, Y., Stewart, A., Peña Molino, B., Janzing, G., Dotto, T., Naveira Garabato, A. (2023): Baroclinic ocean response to climate forcing regulates decadal variability of ice-shelf melting in the Amundsen Sea, XXVIII General Assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) (Berlin 2023).
https://doi.org/10.57757/IUGG23-0161

Cite as: https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_5016397

Abstract

Warm ocean waters drive rapid ice-shelf melting in the Amundsen Sea. The ocean heat transport toward the ice shelves is associated with the Amundsen Undercurrent, a near-bottom current that flows eastward along the shelf break and transports warm waters onto the continental shelf via troughs. Here we use a regional ice-ocean model to show that, on decadal time scales, the undercurrent's variability is baroclinic (depth-dependent). Decadal ocean surface cooling in the tropical Pacific results in cyclonic wind anomalies over the Amundsen Sea. These wind anomalies drive a westward perturbation of the shelf-break surface flow and an eastward anomaly (strengthening) of the undercurrent, leading to increased ice-shelf melting. This contrasts with shorter time scales, for which surface current and undercurrent covary, a barotropic (depth-independent) behavior previously assumed to apply at all time scales. This suggests that interior ocean processes mediate the decadal ice-shelf response in the Amundsen Sea to climate forcing.