Regional patterns of sea level rise are affected by a range of factors including glacial melting, which has occurred in recent decades and is projected to increase in the future, perhaps dramatically. Previous modeling studies have typically included fluxes from melting glacial ice only as a surface forcing of the ocean or as an offline addition to the sea surface height fields produced by climate models. However, observational estimates suggest that the majority of the meltwater from the Antarctic Ice Sheet actually enters the ocean at depth through ice shelf basal melt. Here we use simulations with an ocean general circulation model in an idealized configuration. The results show that the simulated global sea level change pattern is sensitive to the depth at which Antarctic meltwater enters the ocean. Further analysis suggests that the response is dictated primarily by the steric response to the depth of the meltwater flux.

中文翻译：

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海平面变化空间格局对南极融水通量深度的敏感性


海平面上升的区域模式受到一系列因素的影响，其中包括近几十年来发生的冰川融化，预计未来会增加，甚至可能会急剧增加。以前的建模研究通常仅将冰川融化产生的通量纳入海洋表面强迫或作为气候模型产生的海面高度场的离线补充。然而，观测估计表明，南极冰盖的大部分融水实际上是通过冰架基底融化进入海洋深处。在这里，我们使用理想化配置的海洋环流模型进行模拟。结果表明，模拟的全球海平面变化模式对南极融水进入海洋的深度敏感。进一步的分析表明，该响应主要由融水通量深度的空间响应决定。