Anatomy of a glacial meltwater discharge event in an Antarctic cove

Philosophical Transactions. Series A, Mathematical, Physical, and Engineering Sciences
Michael P MeredithDoris Abele

Abstract

Glacial meltwater discharge from Antarctica is a key influence on the marine environment, impacting ocean circulation, sea level and productivity of the pelagic and benthic ecosystems. The responses elicited depend strongly on the characteristics of the meltwater releases, including timing, spatial structure and geochemical composition. Here we use isotopic tracers to reveal the time-varying pattern of meltwater during a discharge event from the Fourcade Glacier into Potter Cove, northern Antarctic Peninsula. The discharge is strongly dependent on local air temperature, and accumulates into an extremely thin, buoyant layer at the surface. This layer showed evidence of elevated turbidity, and responded rapidly to changes in atmospherically driven circulation to generate a strongly pulsed outflow from the cove to the broader ocean. These characteristics contrast with those further south along the Peninsula, where strong glacial frontal ablation is driven oceanographically by intrusions of warm deep waters from offshore. The Fourcade Glacier switched very recently to being land-terminating; if retreat rates elsewhere along the Peninsula remain high and glacier termini progress strongly landward, the structure and impact of the fre...Continue Reading

References

Apr 1, 1997·Current Opinion in Lipidology·T Y ChangJ Chen
Apr 28, 2012·Nature·H D PritchardL Padman
May 23, 2014·Nature Communications·Jon R HawkingsJon Telling
Jun 4, 2014·Philosophical Transactions. Series A, Mathematical, Physical, and Engineering Sciences·Peter J BrownHugh Venables
Dec 25, 2015·Science Advances·Ricardo SahadeDoris Abele
Jun 3, 2016·Scientific Reports·Verónica FuentesIrene R Schloss
Feb 16, 2017·Nature Communications·Andy HodsonGonçalo Vieira

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

May 16, 2018·Philosophical Transactions. Series A, Mathematical, Physical, and Engineering Sciences·Katharine R HendryHugh W Ducklow
May 16, 2018·Philosophical Transactions. Series A, Mathematical, Physical, and Engineering Sciences·C Moffat, M Meredith
May 16, 2018·Philosophical Transactions. Series A, Mathematical, Physical, and Engineering Sciences·Kerstin JeroschDoris Abele
May 15, 2020·PloS One·Maximiliano D GarciaMónica S Hoffmeyer
Sep 17, 2020·Nature Communications·Benjamin BellwaldReidun Myklebust
Feb 7, 2021·The Science of the Total Environment·Maria OsińskaKornelia Anna Wójcik-Długoborska

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Software Mentioned

VSMOW
ANDREX

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia

Autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) occurs when antibodies directed against the person's own red blood cells (RBCs) cause them to burst (lyse), leading to an insufficient number of oxygen-carrying red blood cells in the circulation. Discover the latest research on AIHA here.