This shows that the Kuroshio water exchanges and mixes with the shelf water in horizontal direction in the East China Sea in autumn.

And water masses within and north of Prydz Bay are identified as summer coastal surface water, the Prydz Bay winter water, the Prydz Bay shelf water, and the Circumpolar Deep Water.

"We now know that there is relatively warm water beneath this floating ice," observed Dr Dutrieux, "so this warm water could have been able to melt the base of the ice shelf."