Foehn winds link climate-driven warming to ice shelf evolution in Antarctica
Date
2015-11-03Author
Cape, Mattias R.
Concept link
Vernet, Maria
Concept link
Skvarca, Pedro
Concept link
Marinsek, Sebastian
Concept link
Scambos, Ted
Concept link
Domack, Eugene
Concept link
Metadata
Show full item recordCitable URI
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/7763As published
https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JD023465DOI
10.1002/2015JD023465Keyword
Foehn; Föhn; Larsen Ice Shelf; Antarctica; Climate; Southern Annular ModeAbstract
Rapid warming of the Antarctic Peninsula over the past several decades has led to extensive surface melting on its eastern side, and the disintegration of the Prince Gustav, Larsen A, and Larsen B ice shelves. The warming trend has been attributed to strengthening of circumpolar westerlies resulting from a positive trend in the Southern Annular Mode (SAM), which is thought to promote more frequent warm, dry, downsloping foehn winds along the lee, or eastern side, of the peninsula. We examined variability in foehn frequency and its relationship to temperature and patterns of synoptic-scale circulation using a multidecadal meteorological record from the Argentine station Matienzo, located between the Larsen A and B embayments. This record was further augmented with a network of six weather stations installed under the U.S. NSF LARsen Ice Shelf System, Antarctica, project. Significant warming was observed in all seasons at Matienzo, with the largest seasonal increase occurring in austral winter (+3.71°C between 1962–1972 and 1999–2010). Frequency and duration of foehn events were found to strongly influence regional temperature variability over hourly to seasonal time scales. Surface temperature and foehn winds were also sensitive to climate variability, with both variables exhibiting strong, positive correlations with the SAM index. Concomitant positive trends in foehn frequency, temperature, and SAM are present during austral summer, with sustained foehn events consistently associated with surface melting across the ice sheet and ice shelves. These observations support the notion that increased foehn frequency played a critical role in precipitating the collapse of the Larsen B ice shelf.
Description
Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2015. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 120 (2015): 11,037–11,057, doi:10.1002/2015JD023465.
Collections
Suggested Citation
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 120 (2015): 11,037–11,057Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Ice shelf structure derived from dispersion curve analysis of ambient seismic noise, Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Diez, Anja; Bromirski, Peter D.; Gerstoft, Peter; Stephen, Ralph A.; Anthony, Robert E.; Aster, Richard C.; Cai, Chen; Nyblade, Andrew A.; Wiens, Douglas A. (Oxford University Press, 2016-02-16)An L-configured, three-component short period seismic array was deployed on the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica during November 2014. Polarization analysis of ambient noise data from these stations shows linearly polarized waves ... -
Response of the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica, to ocean gravity-wave forcing
Bromirski, Peter D.; Stephen, Ralph A. (International Glaciological Society, 2012-11-01)Comparison of the Ross Ice Shelf (RIS, Antarctica) response at near-front seismic station RIS2 with seismometer data collected on tabular iceberg B15A and with land-based seismic stations at Scott Base on Ross Island (SBA) ... -
Modeling ocean eddies on Antarctica's cold water continental shelves and their effects on ice shelf basal melting
Mack, Stefanie L.; Dinniman, Michael S.; Klinck, John M.; McGillicuddy, Dennis J.; Padman, Laurence (American Geophysical Union, 2019-07-04)Changes in the rate of ocean‐driven basal melting of Antarctica's ice shelves can alter the rate at which the grounded ice sheet loses mass and contributes to sea level change. Melt rates depend on the inflow of ocean heat, ...