Descripción del proyecto
Predicción de los «puntos de inflexión» de los glaciares: simulaciones numéricas oceánicas que integran la turbulencia
Los glaciares, grandes capas de hielo y nieve terrestres, son centinelas del cambio climático, que se reducen o desaparecen rápidamente. Sus plataformas de hielo, lenguas de hielo que se adentran en el océano, protegen el hielo terrestre del deshielo. A medida que los océanos se calientan, las plataformas de hielo se derriten y se colapsan a un ritmo más rápido, eliminando esta protección. La comprensión de las interacciones dinámicas que subyacen a estos procesos es limitada, pero se necesita con urgencia para ayudar a predecir si se cruzarán puntos de inflexión en este siglo, y cuándo. Con el apoyo de las acciones Marie Skłodowska-Curie, el equipo del proyecto GLmelt colmará esta laguna desarrollando simulaciones de alta resolución de grandes remolinos centradas en las regiones oceánicas cercanas a la línea de contacto entre el glaciar terrestre y su plataforma de hielo.
Objetivo
Ice shelf melting and retreat are accelerating in polar regions because the warm off-shore waters are gaining greater access to the base of ice shelves. Warm waters have the potential of reaching the grounding line and thereby melting it causing the retreat of the full ice shelf, resulting in elevated rates of ice discharge into polar seas and sea level rise. The interconnection between ocean conditions, warming, and ice melting in ice-shelf cavities is poorly understood due to the paucity of observations and turbulence-resolving simulations. This knowledge gap hinders future projections of ice changes and makes it impossible to predict if and when tipping points will be crossed within the 21st century, as their timing critically depends on the details of ice-ocean interactions. GLmelt aims to fill the critical knowledge gap pertaining to the relationship between ice melting rate and ocean conditions by running numerical simulations capable of resolving turbulence. They focus on near-grounding-line regions where ice sheet sensitivity to ice melting is greatest. GLmelt objectives are:
1. Developing an open-source numerical model capable of resolving under-ice ocean dynamics near grounding lines
2. Investigating melt rate distributions considering a range of ice-shelf cavity configurations found in nature
3. Investigating how the characteristic melt rate distributions vary with problem parameters in quiescent ocean conditions
4. Quantifying the effect of long-shore currents
5. Organizing a workshop reviewing state-of-the-art knowledge in dynamical processes controlling basal ice melting and guiding practices in choosing melting parameterizations
GLmelt will enable the candidate fellow to deliver high-impact research outcomes to the research community, environmental policymakers, and the public while receiving high-quality training from world-leading institutes in hydrodynamic turbulence and polar sciences, which will help him secure a permanent research position.
Ámbito científico
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Régimen de financiación
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European FellowshipsCoordinador
69342 Lyon
Francia