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Basal melting of A-38B: A physical model constrained by satellite observations by Daniela Jansen; Michael Schodlok; Wolfgang Rack is a Environmental Science article available to read on EtoBox.

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We observed the large tabular iceberg A-38B in the time period from the calving event at the Ronne Ice Shelf in 1998 until its grounding near South Georgia in 2004 by means of various space-borne sensors. The initial ice thickness was determined by radar altimetry, the iceberg shape from radar imaging and optical instruments. The freeboard change at different stages of the drift was derived from ICESat Laser altimeter profiles. The analysis of the satellite data confirms that the decay of A-38B is governed mainly by basal erosion. We then used a numerical model for simulating iceberg melting and fitted the melt rate by varying the turbulent exchange parameters for temperature (γ T ) and salt (γ S ) to match the results obtained by ICESat data. Our results show that the iceberg passed through three melting regimes characterized by iceberg drift velocity: (1) In the Weddell Sea melting conditions are similar to the situation under an ice shelf with strong tidal currents which corresponds to a γ T of 1.0 ⁎ 10 -4 m s -1 . (2) In the Scotia Sea, where the iceberg drifts unhindered with the ocean current and is surrounded by its own melt water, γ T , is 0.4 ⁎ 10 -4 m s -1 . (3) At the gr

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Author

Daniela Jansen; Michael Schodlok; Wolfgang Rack

Publisher

Elsevier Science; Elsevier ; Elsevier BV (ISSN 0034-4257)

Published

2007

Language

EN

Field

Environmental Science (Physical Sciences)