Dynamics of Under Ice Boundary Layers Below Floating Ice Shelves

Pine Island Glacier (PIG), a major outlet stream of the Western Antarctic Ice Sheet, has dramatically thinned and accelerated in recent decades. It is believed that a weakening of the floating portion of the glacier, known as the ice shelf, due to increased ocean thermal forcing is a primary cause of the observed increasing discharge of PIG. In order to better understand the controls on the exchange of heat between the PIG shelf and the underlying ocean cavity, a numerical model, MITgcm, has been configured to study the dynamics of the sloping, meltwater-forced, buoyant boundary layer below the ice shelf A 2-D approximation allows for high vertical resolution that resolves well the under shelf ocean boundary layer. We are particularly interested in the dynamical balance between buoyancy along the sloping ice shelf base, drag, and entrainment/detrainment and the associated feedback of basal melting of the ice shelf. Numerical results will be compared to in-situ observations obtained through a field campaign in 2013.