Tiny ocean waves could make large ice shelves crumble
Channel: AGU
Date: 2017-08-08

Small ocean waves could play a bigger role in breaking up ice shelves than tsunamis or other large waves, a new study suggests. 

A new study examining vibrations in Antarctica’s Ross Ice Shelf finds small waves continuously impacting the ice shelf may create enough strain to extend existing cracks in the ice and potentially create new ones. An ocean wave of 1 centimeter (0.5 inches) in height can cause vibrations that repeatedly move the ice more than 20 centimeters (8 inches), according to the new study in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, a journal of the American Geophysical Union. 

Read more at: http://blogs.agu.org/geospace/2017/08/08/tiny-ocean-waves-could-make-large-ice-shelves-crumble/ 

Read the study here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2017JC012913/abstract 

Video produced by Lauren Lipuma and Derek Sollosi at AGU. 

Imagery Credits:
Dynamic RIS Response Team
P.D. Bromirski, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD, La Jolla, California, USA; 
Z. Chen: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD, La Jolla, California, USA; 
R.A. Stephen, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA; 
P. Gerstoft, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD, La Jolla, California, USA; 
D. Arcas: NOAA-PMEL, JISAO, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA; 
A. Diez: Norwegian Polar Institute, Tromsø, Norway; 
R.C. Aster: Department of Geosciences and Warner College of Natural Resources, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA; 
D.A. Wiens, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA; 
A. Nyblade: Penn State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA;

-September 16, 2015 Chile tsunami propagation: 
http://nctr.pmel.noaa.gov/chile20150916/ 
-National Snow and Ice Data Center – Roosevelt Island:
https://antarcticsun.usap.gov/science/images/roosevelt_satimage_nsidc.jpg 
- NASA Earth Observatory - Larsen C iceberg: 
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=90557