Warm Surface Water “Bends” and Fractures Portions of West Antarctic Ice Shelf

Geophysical Research Letters, April 11

Although loss from Antarctica’s ice shelves is dominated by large calving events; smaller, more frequent fractures also occur. Such fractures can be caused by warm near-surface water in the summer, lifting a portion of the ice shelf behind its leading edge, causing the shelf to bend and fracture. This study observed such smaller fractures on the massive Ross Ice Shelf in West Antarctica. Rising ocean surface temperatures may lead to more such events in future.

https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/1501/2021/

Compiled by Amy Imdieke