On-shelf circulation of warm water toward the Totten Ice Shelf in East Antarctica

Daisuke Hirano (), Takeshi Tamura, Kazuya Kusahara, Masakazu Fujii, Kaihe Yamazaki, Yoshihiro Nakayama, Kazuya Ono, Takuya Itaki, Yuichi Aoyama, Daisuke Simizu, Kohei Mizobata, Kay I. Ohshima, Yoshifumi Nogi, Stephen R. Rintoul, Esmee Wijk, Jamin S. Greenbaum, Donald D. Blankenship, Koji Saito and Shigeru Aoki
Additional contact information
Daisuke Hirano: National Institute of Polar Research
Takeshi Tamura: National Institute of Polar Research
Kazuya Kusahara: Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
Masakazu Fujii: National Institute of Polar Research
Kaihe Yamazaki: National Institute of Polar Research
Yoshihiro Nakayama: Hokkaido University
Kazuya Ono: Hokkaido University
Takuya Itaki: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
Yuichi Aoyama: National Institute of Polar Research
Daisuke Simizu: National Institute of Polar Research
Kohei Mizobata: Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology
Kay I. Ohshima: Hokkaido University
Yoshifumi Nogi: National Institute of Polar Research
Stephen R. Rintoul: CSIRO Environment
Esmee Wijk: CSIRO Environment
Jamin S. Greenbaum: University of California
Donald D. Blankenship: The University of Texas at Austin
Koji Saito: Hydrographic and Oceanographic Department
Shigeru Aoki: Hokkaido University

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: Abstract The Totten Glacier in East Antarctica, with an ice volume equivalent to >3.5 m of global sea-level rise, is grounded below sea level and, therefore, vulnerable to ocean forcing. Here, we use bathymetric and oceanographic observations from previously unsampled parts of the Totten continental shelf to reveal on-shelf warm water pathways defined by deep topographic features. Access of warm water to the Totten Ice Shelf (TIS) cavity is facilitated by a deep shelf break, a broad and deep depression on the shelf, a cyclonic circulation that carries warm water to the inner shelf, and deep troughs that provide direct access to the TIS cavity. The temperature of the warmest water reaching the TIS cavity varies by ~0.8 °C on an interannual timescale. Numerical simulations constrained by the updated bathymetry demonstrate that the deep troughs play a critical role in regulating ocean heat transport to the TIS cavity and the subsequent basal melt of the ice shelf.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-39764-z

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