Numerical simulations and observations of the role of katabatic winds in the creation and maintenance of Scharffenbergbotnen blue ice area, Antarctica

Zwinger, T.; Malm, T.; Schäfer, M.; Stenberg, R.; Moore, J. C.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1415-2015

Articles | Volume 9, issue 4

The Cryosphere, 9, 1415–1426, 2015

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1415-2015

© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

The Cryosphere, 9, 1415–1426, 2015

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1415-2015

© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 9, issue 4

Research article 04 Aug 2015

Research article | 04 Aug 2015

Numerical simulations and observations of the role of katabatic winds in the creation and maintenance of Scharffenbergbotnen blue ice area, Antarctica

T. Zwinger et al.

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Final revised paper (published on 04 Aug 2015)
Supplement to the final revised paper
Preprint (discussion started on 01 Apr 2015)
Supplement to the preprint

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment

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RC C626: 'Review', Anonymous Referee #1, 29 Apr 2015
RC C678: 'Referee Comments', Anonymous Referee #2, 04 May 2015
AC C1082: 'Final response to both reviewers', Thomas Zwinger, 25 Jun 2015

Peer-review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision

AR by Thomas Zwinger on behalf of the Authors (06 Jul 2015) Author's response Manuscript

ED: Publish subject to technical corrections (07 Jul 2015) by Michiel van den Broeke

Short summary

By deploying a large-scale high-resolution turbulent CFD simulation using the present-day topography of the Scharffenbergbotnen (SBB) valley, we show how the surrounding topography redirects incoming easterly katabatic storm fronts to impact the blue ice areas (BIA) inside the valley, where the snow cover frequently is removed. A further simulation of a reconstructed topography at the Late Glacial Maximum further reveals that the BIA at SBB must have formed after this period.