How fast Antarctica will lose ice and contribute to sea-level rise has become one of today’s most urgent scientific questions. Antarctic ice-sheet mass loss is primarily triggered by the ocean, but relatively little is understood about the drivers of ocean warming where it matters – at the ice sheet margin – nor about the impact of ice-shelf melting on the ocean. I (a) conduct oceanographic observations, (b) improve ocean simulations achieving high model-data agreement, and (c) develop ice-ocean coupled simulations to better understand the past, present, and future state of the Southern Ocean and identify the causes of ocean warming and Antarctic ice loss on various time scales. In this presentation, I will review the literature, including work from my group, that shows how ocean heat intrudes towards the West Antarctic ice shelves, the most rapidly melting region in Antarctica, and controls ice shelf melting. I will also discuss ongoing projects – using both data acquisition and modeling – aimed at a deeper understanding of the processes that control the future of the Antarctic ice sheet.

Date & Time: Mon Sep 09 2024 11:00:00 GMT+0200 (Central European Summer Time)
Room: salle du LOCEAN, couloir 45-55, 4ème étage, pièce 417