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Results of the second Ice Shelf–Ocean Model Intercomparison Project (ISOMIP+)
Claire K. Yung 
,
Xylar S. Asay-Davis ,
Alistair Adcroft,
Christopher Y. S. Bull,
Jan De Rydt ,
Michael S. Dinniman ,
Benjamin K. Galton-Fenzi ,
Daniel Goldberg ,
David E. Gwyther ,
Robert Hallberg,
Matthew Harrison ,
Tore Hattermann ,
David M. Holland,
Denise Holland,
Paul R. Holland,
Jim Jordan ,
Nicolas C. Jourdain ,
Kazuya Kusahara ,
Gustavo Marques ,
Pierre Mathiot,
Dimitris Menemenlis,
Adele K. Morrison,
Yoshihiro Nakayama,
Olga Sergienko ,
Robin S. Smith ,
Alon Stern,
Ralph Timmermann,
Qin Zhou
,
Xylar S. Asay-Davis ,
Alistair Adcroft,
Christopher Y. S. Bull,
Jan De Rydt ,
Michael S. Dinniman ,
Benjamin K. Galton-Fenzi ,
Daniel Goldberg ,
David E. Gwyther ,
Robert Hallberg,
Matthew Harrison ,
Tore Hattermann ,
David M. Holland,
Denise Holland,
Paul R. Holland,
Jim Jordan ,
Nicolas C. Jourdain ,
Kazuya Kusahara ,
Gustavo Marques ,
Pierre Mathiot,
Dimitris Menemenlis,
Adele K. Morrison,
Yoshihiro Nakayama,
Olga Sergienko ,
Robin S. Smith ,
Alon Stern,
Ralph Timmermann,
Qin Zhou
The Cryosphere, Volume: 20, Issue: 4, Pages: 2053 - 2088
Swansea University Author:
Jim Jordan
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© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
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DOI (Published version): 10.5194/tc-20-2053-2026
Abstract
Ocean-driven basal melting of Antarctic ice shelves plays an important role in the mass loss of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Ice shelf cavity-resolving ocean models are a valuable tool for understanding ice shelf-ocean interactions and for simulating projections of ice shelf and ocean states under futur...
| Published in: | The Cryosphere |
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| ISSN: | 1994-0424 |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2026
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| Online Access: |
Check full text
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71766 |
| Abstract: |
Ocean-driven basal melting of Antarctic ice shelves plays an important role in the mass loss of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Ice shelf cavity-resolving ocean models are a valuable tool for understanding ice shelf-ocean interactions and for simulating projections of ice shelf and ocean states under future climate. Designed to assess the current state of ice shelf–ocean modelling, the second Ice Shelf–Ocean Model Intercomparison Project, ISOMIP+, consists of 12 ocean model configurations submitted with a common, idealised experimental setup. Here, we focus on the experiments Ocean0–2 (Asay-Davis et al., 2016), which are ocean models with idealised, static ice shelf geometries, but where the ocean reaches a balance with prescribed far-field ocean conditions. Different thermal transfer coefficient values (ranging from 0.011 to 0.2) are used for each model in the melting parameterisation to achieve a common, tuned melt rate since the models cover a range of types of vertical coordinates, ice–ocean boundary layer treatments, and numerical schemes. These model differences lead to spread in the resultant ocean properties, circulation, boundary-layer structure and spatial distribution of melting. We also highlight similarities between models, such as a shared linear relationship across most models between melt rate and overturning and barotropic streamfunctions during the spin-up and spin-down, demonstrating a robust relationship between melt and circulation across models and forcing conditions. The ISOMIP+ results provide a systematic comparison of ice shelf cavity-capable ocean models. However, we also demonstrate the need for realistic ice shelf–ocean model intercomparison projects (some already underway) to assess model biases and inter-model variation against sparse observations. Further research is needed to understand the differences between models and further improve our modelled representations of the ice–ocean boundary layer and ice shelf cavity circulation. |
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| College: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |
| Funders: |
This research has been supported by the Australian Research Council (grant nos. SR200100008, DP190100494, DP250100759, and DP22010252), the Norges Forskningsråd (grant nos. 295075, 343397, and 332635), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (grant no. 80NSSC24K1532), the Natural Environment Research Council (grant nos. NE/N017951/1 and NE/L013770/1), the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (grant nos. ANR-15-CE01-0005-01, ANR-12-BS06-0018, and ANR-22-EXTR-0010), the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (grant no. JP24K15281), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (grant nos. NA23OAR4320198 and NA13OAR4310097), the National Science Foundation (grant no. 1852977), and the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (grant nos. 24K15256, 24H02341). |
| Issue: |
4 |
| Start Page: |
2053 |
| End Page: |
2088 |