Oceanic Environment of George VI Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula
Open Access
- 1 January 1988
- journal article
- research article
- Published by International Glaciological Society in Annals of Glaciology
- Vol. 11, 161-164
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s0260305500006480
Abstract
A collation of available data shows that sea-water with a temperature 3°C above the in-situ freezing point lies beneath George VI Ice Shelf in the Antarctic Peninsula, and is widespread on the Amundsen-Bellingshausen continental shelf. The presence of warm water is a factor in the recent and continuing disintegration of ice shelves in the region, yet the meteorology and oceanography of the sector are little known. We discuss a plausible link between the present climatic conditions, sea-water characteristics and the warm-water intrusion on to the continental shelf, thereby illustrating an indirect climatic influence on the mass balance of ice shelves.Keywords
This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit:
- Oceanic regimes at the ice fronts of George VI Sound, Antarctic PeninsulaContinental Shelf Research, 1988
- Glaciological and Oceanographic Calculations of the Mass Balance and Oxygen Isotope Ratio of a Melting Ice ShelfJournal of Glaciology, 1984
- Oxygen-Isotope and Total Beta-Radioactivity Measurements on 10 m Ice Cores from the Antarctic PeninsulaJournal of Glaciology, 1982