Seasonal variability of ocean heat transport and ice-shelf basal melt around Antarctica

Boeira Dias, Fabio; England, Matthew H.; Morrison, Adele K.; Galton-Fenzi, Benjamin K.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-5231-2025

Articles | Volume 19, issue 10

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-5231-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-5231-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 10

Research article

|

30 Oct 2025

Research article |

| 30 Oct 2025

Seasonal variability of ocean heat transport and ice-shelf basal melt around Antarctica

Fabio Boeira Dias, Matthew H. England, Adele K. Morrison, and Benjamin K. Galton-Fenzi

Data sets

High-resolution (4-km) circum-Antarctic ocean-ice shelf model F. Boeira Dias et al. https://doi.org/10.25959/waom4-2025a

Model code and software

waom_notebook F. Boeira Dias et al. https://github.com/fabiobdias/waom_notebook/tree/main/Dias_etal_2025-Antarctica_Seasonal_Melt

Short summary

The Antarctic Ice Sheet melting dominates the sea-level projection uncertainties. Much uncertainty arises from our limited understanding of how ice shelves melt from below. Using a detailed ocean–ice-shelf model, we found that East Antarctic ice shelves experience seasonal melting driven by ocean heat transport variability. In contrast, West Antarctic ice shelves show consistent melting due to a steady supply of warm, deep water, indicating a potentially distinct response due to a warming climate.