Articles | Volume 10, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2317-2016
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2317-2016
Research article
 | 
30 Sep 2016
Research article |  | 30 Sep 2016

Impacts of marine instability across the East Antarctic Ice Sheet on Southern Ocean dynamics

Steven J. Phipps, Christopher J. Fogwill, and Christian S. M. Turney

Data sets

RAMP AMM-1 SAR Image Mosaic of Antarctica K. Jezek and RAMP Product Team https://nsidc.org/data/docs/daac/nsidc0103_ramp_mosaic.gd.html

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Short summary
We explore the effects of melting of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet on the Southern Ocean. Using a climate model, we find that melting changes the ocean circulation and causes warming of more than 1 °C at depth. We also discover the potential existence of a "domino effect", whereby the initial warming spreads westwards around the Antarctic continent. Melting of just one sector could therefore destabilise the wider Antarctic Ice Sheet, leading to substantial increases in global sea level.