Basal Melting and Potential Warm Water Intrusion Beneath Antarctic Ice Shelves

Abstract. The intrusion of relatively warm ocean waters beneath Antarctic ice shelves is a key driver of basal melting and strongly influences ice-shelf stability. However, previous studies investigating warm-water pathways have largely relied on single-source datasets, such as ship-based Conductivity–Temperature–Depth (CTD) measurements, which are spatially sparse and limited to a few well-surveyed regions. Recent advances in multi-source remote sensing datasets provide new opportunities to address these limitations. In this study, a multi-source remote sensing–based framework is developed to identify potential pathways of relatively warm water intrusion beneath Antarctic ice shelves and to quantify the associated basal melting. The Moscow University Ice Shelf (MUIS) is used as a case study. Across the continental shelf, CTD observations, sub-ice-shelf bathymetry, and modeled ocean circulation are integrated to infer potential intrusion routes. At the ice-shelf front and base, EN4 reanalysis data are used to characterize seawater properties, while satellite-derived basal melt products are applied to analyze spatial and vertical patterns of basal melting. Results indicate that relatively warm water is mainly concentrated at depths of 300–500 m, coinciding with bathymetric depressions that facilitate its intrusion beneath MUIS. Enhanced basal melting occurs near the ice front and grounding line, primarily within the upper 0–500 m of the ice-shelf draft, with an average melt rate of ~6 m yr⁻¹. The proposed framework provides a transferable approach for investigating ocean-driven melting beneath Antarctic ice shelves.