Icebergs Melting

Abstract

Iceberg calving accounts for half of the mass discharge from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, which has increased dramatically over the last two decades. Through their displacement and progressive melt, icebergs can impact both the regional and large-scale ocean circulation and marine ecosystems by affecting their stratification and nutrient and carbon cycling. Freshwater input due to iceberg melt has the potential to impact regional sea ice distribution and the global overturning circulation. Notwithstanding their importance, our understanding of where and how icebergs melt is limited and their representation in ocean and climate models is oversimplistic, in part because they are informed by only a handful of observations. As a result, model-based predictions of iceberg melt rates, of the fate of the meltwater, and of its impact on the ocean are highly uncertain. New observational, modeling, and experimental studies are needed to improve our understanding of iceberg melting and hence, the forecasting power of climate models.