Basal melt of the southern Filchner Ice Shelf, Antarctica

Abstract. Basal melt of ice shelves is a key factor governing discharge of ice from the Antarctic Ice Sheet as a result of its effects on buttressing. Here, we use radio echo sounding to determine the spatial variability of the basal melt rate of the southern Filchner Ice Shelf, Antarctica along the inflow of Support Force Glacier. We find moderate melt rates with a maximum of 1.13 m a−1 about 50 km downstream of the grounding line. The variability of the melt rates over distances of a few kilometres is low (all but one