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  Modelling the Circulation and Melt/Freeze Pattern Under an Ice ShelfSupervisor John Hunter Project Outline The project would involve modelling the circulation under one or more of the Antarctic ice shelves. These ice shelves are in an approximate mass balance involving the supply of ice from glaciers, snowfall and ablation on the upper surface, melting and re-freezing at the ice/ocean interface and calving of icebergs. Of these, melting and re-freezing at the ice/ocean interface is a substantial contribution (it is comparable with iceberg calving for the Amery Ice Shelf in eastern Antarctica). Since the 1999/2000 summer season, the Amery Ice Shelf Ocean Research (AMISOR) project have made both glaciological and oceanographic measurements of the Amery Ice Shelf, the underlying ocean cavity and adjacent Prydz Bay. The oceanographic observations of the cavity have been made possible by hot water drilling through the ice shelf from the surface. A hydrodynamic ocean model has also been developed (based on the Princeton Ocean Model) to simulate the cavity and the waters of Prydz Bay. A prime aim of this work is to investigate what may happen to such systems under conditions of global warming. The candidate would extend the present hydrodynamic model in order to gain an improved understanding of, and agreement with, the comprehensive suite of observations that presently exist and which will be collected for several more years. Further validation may be obtained by continued participation in the Ice Shelf - Ocean Model Intercomparison Project (ISOMIP), by which this model is being compared with other models used internationally. After such validation, the model would be run for a range of future climate change scenarios. It is also planned that the ocean model will be coupled with a dynamic model of the ice shelf itself, so that the cavity geometry may react to changed rates of melting and re-freezing at the ice/water interface. The candidate would also have the opportunity of participating in the summer observational program on the Amery Ice Shelf. Contact John Hunter, tel +61 3 6226 7849 |
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