In recent decades, Antarctic ice sheets have rapidly retreated, thus contributing to rising sea levels. An estimated 2720 billion tonnes of ice was lost from Antarctica between 1992 and 2017, corresponding to a global sea-level rise of about 7.6 mm (Shepherd et al., 2018). In particular, grounded ice reduction in West Antarctica accounted for ∼86% of the total Antarctic ice loss. The rapid ice reduction in West Antarctica caused by the increase in glacial flow is believed to be driven by the thinning of the buttressing ice shelves, in turn associated with increasing ocean melt. Notably, the fastest rate of decline in ice volume was observed in the Amundsen Sea sector during the late 2000s (Turner et al., 2017), with some potential anthropogenic origins (Holland et al., 2019).The Dotson Ice Shelf (DIS) is about 70 km long and 50 km wide, and is situated between the Martin Peninsula (MP) and the Bear Peninsula (BP) on the Marie Byrd Land coast, in the Amundsen Sea embayment, West Antarctica (Figure 1). It buttresses the flow of the Kohler and Smith glaciers. A rapid thinning of the DIS has been

Recent rapid thinning of West Antarctic ice shelves are believed to be caused by intrusions of warm deep water that induce basal melting and seaward meltwater export. This study uses data from three bottom-mounted mooring arrays to show seasonal variability and local forcing for the currents moving into and out of the Dotson ice shelf cavity. A southward flow of warm, salty water had maximum current velocities along the eastern channel slope, while northward outflows of freshened ice shelf meltwater spread at intermediate depth above the western slope. The inflow correlated with the local ocean surface stress curl. At the western slope, meltwater outflows followed the warm influx along the eastern slope with a ~2–3 month delay. Ocean circulation near Dotson Ice Shelf, affected by sea ice distribution and wind, appears to significantly control the inflow of warm water and subsequent ice shelf melting on seasonal time-scales.

Recent rapid thinning of West Antarctic ice shelves are believed to be caused by intrusions of warm deep water that induce basal melting and seaward meltwater export. Dotson Ice Shelf has a high basal melt rate due to southward ocean heat transport in the Dotson-Getz Trough. We deployed three bottom-moored instrument arrays along the ice shelf calving front, obtaining continuous records of temperature, salinity, and current velocity throughout 2014 and 2015. Southward deep water velocities were highest along the eastern channel slope, while northward outflows of freshened ice shelf meltwater spread at intermediate depth above the western slope. Inflow warm water along the eastern slope into the sub-Dotson cavity reached a maximum of 182 MW m− 1 in Summer, 3.5 times larger than the autumn/winter values of 51 MW m− 1. The inflow correlated with the local ocean surface stress curl. At the western slope meltwater outflows were strongest during autumn and weakest in spring, following the warm influx along the eastern slope with a ~ 2–3 months delay. Ocean circulation near Dotson Ice Shelf, affected by sea ice distribution and wind, appears to be a significant control on the inflow of warm water and subsequent ice shelf melting on seasonal time-scales.