Wind-driven coastal polynya variability drives decadal ice-shelf melt variability in the Amundsen Sea - Michael Haigh

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• Michael Haigh
• Wednesday 29 October 2025, 14:00-15:00
• BAS Seminar Room 330b.

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Abstract: The ice shelves in the Amundsen Sea are being melted rapidly by warm Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW), causing sea-level rise. Ice-shelf melt variability is controlled by the speed of an undercurrent which flows along the continental slope and transports CDW onto the continental shelf. We study decadal variability of the undercurrent and ice-shelf melting using new regional ice-ocean model perturbation experiments. These perturbation experiments suggest that the undercurrent decadal variability is controlled by variability in coastal sea-ice freshwater fluxes which itself is driven by winds mechanically opening and closing coastal polynyas. We also quantify a positive feedback mechanism between the undercurrent and ice-shelf melting, which is responsible for 25% of their decadal variability.

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This talk is part of the British Antarctic Survey - Polar Oceans seminar series series.

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