Seems that the scientists who claimed that the Fimbul Ice Shelf is melting from the bottom up were basing their assertions exclusively on computer models without any direct data for comparison or guidance. They had made no direct observation of what was actually happening out there in the real world.
This led to an overestimation of water temperatures and extent of melting beneath the Fimbul Ice Shelf, which in turn led to the misconception that the ice shelf is losing mass at a faster rate than it is gaining mass.
However, the model results were in contrast to the available data from satellite observations,.
New studies show that water temperatures are “significantly” lower than computer models predicted, which means that the Fimbul Ice Shelf is melting at a slower rate than predicted.
The researchers used data collected from nine male elephant seals that spent the winter along the outskirts of the Fimbul Ice Shelf.
It is possible that the shelf is neither losing nor gaining mass at the moment, because ice buildup from snowfall has kept up with the rate of mass loss, said lead author of the study and PhD student at the Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI), Tore Hattermann.
The Fimbul Ice Shelf – located along eastern Antarctica in the Weddell Sea – is the sixth largest of the forty-three ice shelves that dapple Antarctica’s perimeter.
Thanks to Richard Knight for this link