Researchers find that Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf has natural melting that is affected by the varying depth of the seafloor underneath it and a patch of open water (polynya) that affects the temperature of ocean water. Doesn't have a damn thing to do with carbon dioxide or human actions. Who'da thunk it?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7078657/Ancient-structure-discovered-ice-East-West-Antarctica-affect-future-melting.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ico=taboola_feed

Ancient rock structure discovered under the ice of East and West Antarctica is controlling the flow of ocean water under the Ross Ice Shelf and may affect rate of future melting

•Experts used a plane-mounted detector to scan the shelf and underlying rocks

•They found a previously unmapped change in sea floor depth under the ice shelf

•This is deflecting ice-melting ocean water flows away from the West Antarctic

•Local ocean currents may therefore be important to the future of the ice shelf

By Ian Randall

Published: 12:58 EDT, 28 May 2019

Updated: 12:58 EDT, 28 May 2019

An ancient divide in the rocks beneath East and West Antarctica is controlling the flow of water under the Ross Ice Shelf and the rates at which parts of the ice melt.

The boundary was discovered using a new, plane-mounted detector which can gather magnetic and gravitational data on the ice shelf as it flies around.

In addition, the researchers also discovered that a patch of open waters in the Ross Sea that cools the ocean in the winter can also lead to significant warming and local ice melt in the summertime.

Together, the findings highlight the importance of local ocean currents in the future retreat of the Antarctic ice shelf.

The Ross Ice Shelf is a massive expanse of floating ice that slows the release of about 20 per cent of grounded Antarctic ice out in the ocean, making understanding its evolution vital to predicting future sea level rise.

[Moar at website]