Modelling Ocean Melting of the Antarctic Ice Sheet

Scientists from the British Antarctic Survey have used hot-water drilling and autonomous underwater vehicles to observe ocean conditions beneath ice shelves. Recent advances in theoretical and computer modelling have used these observations to develop our understanding of the ocean processes controlling ice melting.

The aim of this studentship is to improve the representation of this melting in climate models, in order to improve projections of sea level rise. Even on the fastest supercomputers, climate models cannot be run at a resolution high enough to resolve all of the ocean processes controlling melting. Melting must instead be included in the models using simplified representations of the underlying physical processes. The student will test and improve these representations in a state-of-the-art ocean model.