Luciana Shigihara Lima (2022)

2022 INSTANT Fellow

Project: Impacts of freshwater supply on the coastal dynamics of the Antarctic Peninsula

The initial project objective was to improve the understanding of the impact of the increase in the contribution of freshwater in the oceanic system arising from the basal melting of floating glaciers near the Antarctic Peninsula (AP), which is strongly in line with the ocean-ice interactions theme of INSTANT. Investigations about these dynamics, associated with regional numerical modelling, can potentially help to improve climate models (which are still high uncertainties in polar areas) and increase confidence in projecting potential impacts due to climate change. This work is unprecedented in focusing on freshwater intrusion sensitivity experiments around the AP, whose region presents complex and opposing dynamics on both sides: Weddell and Bellingshausen Seas.

The specific objectives that guide this work are:

1. To assess how the contribution of freshwater discharge along the AP affects the formation of coastal currents of the Bellingshausen and Weddell Seas.
2. To simulate the ice shelf basal melting effects on sea ice formation over the continental shelf region.
3. To estimate the contribution of freshwater to the stratification of oceanic water masses and its influence on their formation.