In a warming climate, satellite data indicate that the sea ice extent around Antarctica has increased over the last decades. One of the suggested explanations is the stabilizing effect of increased mass loss of the Antarctic ice sheet. Here, we investigate the sea ice response to changes in both the amount and the spatial distribution of freshwater input to the ocean by comparing a set of numerical sensitivity simulations with additional supply of water at the Antarctic ocean surface. We analyze the short-term response of the sea ice cover and the on-shelf water column to variations in the amount and distribution of the prescribed surface freshwater flux.
Fondazione Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC), Bologna, Italy; Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), Bologna, Italy; Laboratoire d'Océanographie Physique et Spatiale (LOPS), CNRS, Plouzané, France
Recommended Citation:
Haid V,, Iovino D,, Masina S. Impacts of freshwater changes on Antarctic sea ice in an eddy-permitting sea-ice-ocean model[J]. Cryosphere,2017-01-01,11(3)