Oceans

Measurements beneath an Antarctic ice shelf using an autonomous underwater vehicle

  1. K. W. Nicholls1,
  2. E. P. Abrahamsen1,
  3. J. J. H. Buck2,
  4. P. A. Dodd3,
  5. C. Goldblatt3,
  6. G. Griffiths4,
  7. K. J. Heywood3,
  8. N. E. Hughes5,
  9. A. Kaletzky6,
  10. G. F. Lane-Serff2,
  11. S. D. McPhail4,
  12. N. W. Millard4,
  13. K. I. C. Oliver3,
  14. J. Perrett4,
  15. M. R. Price3,
  16. C. J. Pudsey1,
  17. K. Saw4,
  18. K. Stansfield4,
  19. M. J. Stott7,
  20. P. Wadhams6,
  21. A. T. Webb4,
  22. J. P. Wilkinson5

Article first published online: 29 APR 2006

DOI: 10.1029/2006GL025998

Issue

Geophysical Research Letters

Geophysical Research Letters

Additional Information

How to Cite

Nicholls, K. W., et al. (2006), Measurements beneath an Antarctic ice shelf using an autonomous underwater vehicle, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L08612, doi:10.1029/2006GL025998.

Author Information

  1. 1

    British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK

  2. 2

    School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

  3. 3

    School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK

  4. 4

    National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK

  5. 5

    Scottish Society for Marine Sciences, Dunstaffnage Laboratory, Argyll, UK

  6. 6

    Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

  7. 7

    Kent, UK

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 29 APR 2006
  2. Article first published online: 29 APR 2006
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 21 MAR 2006
  4. Manuscript Revised: 16 MAR 2006
  5. Manuscript Received: 16 FEB 2006

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[1] The cavities beneath Antarctic ice shelves are among the least studied regions of the World Ocean, yet they are sites of globally important water mass transformations. Here we report results from a mission beneath Fimbul Ice Shelf of an autonomous underwater vehicle. The data reveal a spatially complex oceanographic environment, an ice base with widely varying roughness, and a cavity periodically exposed to water with a temperature significantly above the surface freezing point. The results of this, the briefest of glimpses of conditions in this extraordinary environment, are already reforming our view of the topographic and oceanographic conditions beneath ice shelves, holding out great promises for future missions from similar platforms.

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