The morphological changes of basal channels based on multi-source remote sensing data at the Pine Island Ice Shelf

Abstract

The basal channel is a detailed morphological feature of the ice shelf caused by uneven basal melting. This kind of specifically morphology is widely distributed in polar ice shelves. It is an important research object of sea-ice interaction and plays a vital role in studying the relationship between the ice sheet/ice shelf and global warming. In this paper, high-resolution remote sensing image and ice penetration data were combined to extract the basal channel of the Pine Island Ice Shelf. The depth variation of Pine Island Ice Shelf in the recent 20 years was analyzed and discussed by using ICESat-1, ICESat-2, and IceBridge data. Combined with relevant marine meteorological elements (sea surface temperature, surface melting days, circumpolar deep water and wind) to analyze the basal channel changes, the redistribution of ocean heat is considered to be the most important factor affecting the evolution and development of the basal channel.