{"id":141641,"date":"2025-11-19T12:18:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T12:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/141641\/"},"modified":"2025-11-19T12:18:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T12:18:08","slug":"subsurface-ocean-storms-linked-to-rapid-antarctic-ice-melt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/141641\/","title":{"rendered":"Subsurface ocean ‘storms’ linked to rapid Antarctic ice melt"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"blue<\/a>image: \u00a9nikkytok | iStock
\n UC Irvine and NASA researchers have identified stormlike circulation patterns beneath Antarctic ice shelves that are causing aggressive melting. These \u201csubmesoscale\u201d features drive warm water intrusion, accelerating the melt of key glaciers like Thwaites and Pine Island<\/p>\n

New research from the University of California, Irvine (UCI) and NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has uncovered a critical, fast-acting mechanism driving the aggressive melting of West Antarctica\u2019s vulnerable glaciers:<\/a> stormlike circulation patterns beneath the floating ice shelves.<\/p>\n

Published recently in Nature Geoscience, the study is the first to analyse ocean-induced ice shelf melting on a \u201cweather timescale\u201d of days, rather than the traditional seasonal or annual timeframes. The findings link intense melt events at the crucial Thwaites Glacier and Pine Island Glacier in the Amundsen Sea Embayment to these rapid, short-lived ocean features, challenging previous models of ice loss.<\/p>\n

Identifying the submesoscale drivers<\/p>\n

The researchers employed high-resolution climate simulation modelling and moored observation tools to visualise minute, kilometre-scale ocean features known as submesoscales. These features, spanning between 1 and 10 kilometres across, were previously overlooked in the context of ice-ocean interactions but are now identified as a primary contributor to submarine melting.<\/p>\n

Lead author Mattia Poinelli, a UCI postdoctoral scholar, likened the effect to powerful storms hitting a coast. \u201cIn the same way hurricanes and other large storms threaten vulnerable coastal regions around the world, submesoscale features in the open ocean propagate toward ice shelves to cause substantial damage,\u201d Poinelli explained. These subsurface \u201cstorms\u201d facilitate the intrusion of warm water into the cavities beneath the ice, accelerating melting from below.<\/p>\n

A dangerous feedback loop<\/p>\n

The team identified a positive feedback loop that intensifies the melting process. As the ice shelves melt, they generate more ocean turbulence, which, in turn, fuels more submesoscale activity, driving even greater melting.<\/p>\n

\u201cSubmesoscale activity within the ice cavity serves both as a cause and a consequence of submarine melting,\u201d Poinelli noted. The melting creates unstable meltwater fronts that strengthen these stormlike features, leading to higher rates of vertical heat transfer. The study found these ephemeral, high-frequency processes are significant, accounting for nearly one-fifth of the total submarine melt variance over a seasonal cycle. During extreme events, the melting rate can increase as much as threefold within hours.<\/p>\n

Implications for sea level rise projections<\/p>\n

The results underscore the urgent need to incorporate these short-term, \u201cweatherlike\u201d ocean processes into global climate models. The stability of the West Antarctic Ice Shee<\/a>t is a critical concern, as its potential collapse could raise global sea level by up to 3 meters.<\/p>\n

The research highlights a \u201csubmesoscale hot spot\u201d between the Crosson and Thwaites ice shelves, where topography enhances this destructive activity, making the area particularly vulnerable. Furthermore, the findings suggest that in future climate scenarios with warmer waters and reduced sea ice, these energetic submesoscale fronts could become even more prevalent.<\/p>\n

UCI Professor Eric Rignot emphasised that the study demonstrates an \u201curgent need to fund and develop better observation tools, including advanced oceangoing robots,\u201d capable of measuring these fine-scale suboceanic dynamics to create more accurate projections for global sea level rise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"image: \u00a9nikkytok | iStock UC Irvine and NASA researchers have identified stormlike circulation patterns beneath Antarctic ice shelves…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141642,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[701,87514,87515,85,46,30199,141],"class_list":{"0":"post-141641","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-biology","9":"tag-cop-climate-change","10":"tag-ice-caps","11":"tag-il","12":"tag-israel","13":"tag-marine-science","14":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}