R&K

The heat being discussed that is of concern to us - the larger topic that provides a reason for writing the article - is anthropogenic global warming.

Or are you asking about the transport mechanism that caused the heat to be where it is?

The report mentioned "Boiling water", that can only be caused by a Volcano. Antarctica has several volcano and one theory for the existence of under ice lakes of water is that the water is kept warm by volcano action (i.e. enough heat is provided via some volcano to keep the lake from freezing). Please note it is possible for the lake to never have frozen in the first place, just iced over, but just pointing out the volcano theory and that the Volcano is the best explanation for any boiling water reported in Antarctica.

On the other hand, the vast majority of the heat is being provided by the ocean. The Southern Ocean is a circular rotation of currents that keeps most of Antarctic isolated from the heat in the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic oceans. On a map the Southern Ocean looks like just that part of those three oceans next to Antarctica, but do to the circular rotation of the currents around Antarctica that is NOT the case. The Southern Ocean acts as a barrier to movement of water from those three oceans to the coasts of Antarctica.

The problem with the Southern Ocean is that it is directly connected to the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, Thus some heat does get exchanged between those three oceans and the Southern Ocean AND thus Antarctica. Worse the Southern Ocean is at its weakest south of South America, where heat from the Pacific and the Atlantic can get close to Antarctica AND cold water can escape (El Nino is an example of such a movement of Cold water from the Southern Ocean to the Pacific, which also means warmer water from elsewhere entered the Southern Ocean, warming up the Southern Ocean).

A further problem is the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is directly south of South America. Drake Straits is the Closest Antarctica gets to another Continent. Drake Straits is ocean deep, but shadow compared to the rest of the Southern Ocean (In fact do to the Narrowest and shadowiest of Drake Strait, the "Ocean Conveyor belt, goes from the Caribbean Sea to Iceland, where it loses its heat, but retains its salt, then flows south, joined in from cold water from the Mediterranean, then flows south to the Southern Ocean, then east through the Indian ocean to the Pacific, where the salt is lost and the water rises and return as a surface current to the Caribbean).

More on the Ocean Conveyor belt:
http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/conveyor.html
http://oceanmotion.org/html/background/ocean-conveyor-belt.htm
http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/545.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100618102646.htm

Please note it takes about 1000 years for water to go through this system, but it tends to keep most of the world at the same temperature.

You also have to understand that West Antarctic is NOT one piece of land but a series of interconnected islands, connected by the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). Here is a map of Antarctica without ice, notice on the Left, which is West Antarctica mostly islands:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctica

More maps of Antarctica:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Atlas_of_Antarctica

More on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Antarctic_Ice_Sheet
http://earthsky.org/earth/sophie-nowicki-on-weak-underbelly-of-west-antarctic-ice-sheet
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100116103350.htm
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2009/02/05/203656/antarctic-ice-sheet-collapse-even-more-catastrophic-for-us-coasts/
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2000/ast27dec_1/

More on the Antarctic Circumpolar Current:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_Circumpolar_Current
http://phys.org/news191483678.html
http://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-us/publications/australian-antarctic-magazine/2001-2005/issue-4-spring-2002/the-southern-oceans-global-reach

El Nino tied in with the Antarctic Circumpolar Current:
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/pacific-01b.html

The researcher being quoted was referring to the strength of the upwelling current and the force of this newly identified (in 2009), localized convection effect.

Volcanoes is the best explanation for seeing "Boiling water" in Antarctica mentioned in the Article, but as I pointed out the volcanoes are at best a minor addition to the warming of Antarctica.

The real problem is the movement of heat from the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Ocean to the Southern Ocean and then to the Antarctic ice Sheets (via the Surrounding Ice Shelves). The big problem is the increase in water temperature from near freezing to above freezing. The change from solid to liquid takes a good bit of heat, more then just dropping the temperature below the point where something change from solid to liquid.

On the other hand we are NOT talking about temperature of the water being that much higher then the freezing point of water. 33 degree is enough, the problem is to hold temperature at 33 for any length of time requires even more heat input. Up till recently, no such long term temperature increase was noted in the Southern Ocean. That has changed and that is the main concern when it comes to the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.

That is simply a statement of fact. With that metaphor the researcher was pointing out the energetic nature of the process that is accelerating the melting process of the shelf. Volcanic activity has nothing to do with it.

That requires at least 100 degrees Centigrade (212 Fahrenheit). Thus the only cause for such boiling has to be heat generated locally, and that means volcano or other lava source.

All I was pointing out was the heat hitting Antarctica is NOT enough to produce boiling water. At the same time, the heat that is reaching Antarctica can cause the ice cap to melt (and in the case of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet melt so they ceased being grounded to the floor of the ocean and float).

If the whole West Antarctic Ice Sheet should melt enough to float, world wide sea level will increase at least five meters (or about 15-18 feet). To get that all we need is temperatures ABOVE Freezing and there is more and more evidence that is what is happening in the ice Shelves and to a degree the ice Sheets. 33 degree Fahrenheit water is enough to cause that to happen, you do NOT need 212 degree water to melt ice.

My point is the volcanoes are a factor, but the main factor, as I pointed out in my previous thread, was the exchange of warmer water from the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. When it comes to boiling water, the best explanation is a volcano, but the main threat to the Antarctic, as I pointed out in my previous thread, is the gradual warming of the Ice Sheets.

That is simply a statement of fact. With that metaphor the researcher was pointing out the energetic nature of the process that is accelerating the melting process of the shelf. Volcanic activity has nothing to do with it.

The article used the term "Boiling" and I addressed it. You do have boiling water in the Antarctic do to the Volcanoes, but what is being describe is NOT something boiling but water being pushed upward as the ice over top of it sinks for various reasons. To call it boiling is at best inaccurate and worse misleading. I have seen such swelling (On a small scale on the local creeks and streams when you have ice over unfrozen water and the ice breaks up AND some of the water is pushed out of the way of the Ice). The ice swelling does NOT look like boiling water, it looks more like water escaping from a hose with air mixed in with the water.