The Influence of Pine Island Ice Shelf Calving on Basal Melting

Bradley, Alexander T.; Bett, David T.; Dutrieux, Pierre; Rydt, Jan De; Holland, Paul R.

doi:10.1029/2022jc018621

Cited by 23 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 58 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Conversely, strong grounding line retreat may enhance melting by exposing a larger basal area to warm water and thus favoring a stronger melt-induced sub-ice shelf circulation (Donat-Magnin et al, 2017). For some geometrical configurations, the retreat of the calving front may also favor melting by facilitating the circulation into ice-shelf cavities (Bradley et al, 2022). If ice-shelf basal melt rates increase sufficiently, the ice dynamics is likely to cross tipping points (Rosier et al, 2021), which would irreversibly put the Amundsen Sea in a different state due to the aforementioned feedback.…”

Section: Robustness Of the Reversibility Of Abrupt Transitionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drivers and Reversibility of Abrupt Ocean State Transitions in the Amundsen Sea, Antarctica

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet has lost mass over the last few decades and has thus contributed significantly to global sea level rise. Warming of the oceanic sub-surface seems to have caused an increase in melting under floating ice shelves, particularly in the Amundsen Sea (Jenkins et al., 2018). Depending on the bedrock slope direction (Pattyn et al., 2012;Schoof, 2007) and ice-shelf lateral buttressing (Gudmundsson, 2013), a sufficiently strong and persistent increase in basal melting can lead to a marine ice-sheet instability (MISI), resulting in a self-sustained retreat of the glacier's grounding line and to the acceleration of its flow (Favier et al., 2014;Joughin et al., 2014).Instabilities are triggered above a certain level of ocean warming (critical threshold or tipping point), with the possible existence of multiple thresholds. Thus, Rosier et al. ( 2021) estimated that Pine Island Glacier would undergo a MISI and major mass loss for an oceanic warming of +1.2°C relative to the present. Garbe et al. (2020) estimated that a tipping point of +2°C global warming relative to preindustrial could cause a MISI of the entire

show abstract

Section: Robustness Of the Reversibility Of Abrupt Transitionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drivers and Reversibility of Abrupt Ocean State Transitions in the Amundsen Sea, Antarctica

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Several feedbacks have been identified as contributing to ice loss in the Amundsen Sea. These include ice flow acceleration related to bed geometry (Favier et al., 2014; Joughin et al., 2014) and ice damage (Lhermitte et al., 2020; Surawy‐Stepney et al., 2023) and increased oceanic melting related to freshwater fluxes (Bett et al., 2020) and the geometry of ice‐shelf cavities (Bradley et al., 2022; De Rydt & Gudmundsson, 2016; De Rydt et al., 2014; Donat‐Magnin et al., 2017). Oceanic melting in new ice‐shelf areas, formed as the grounding line retreats, is an important control on future sea‐level rise (Arthern & Williams, 2017; De Rydt & Gudmundsson, 2016; Seroussi et al., 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strong Ocean Melting Feedback During the Recent Retreat of Thwaites Glacier

Holland

Bevan

Luckman

2023

Geophysical Research Letters

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Accelerating ice loss from Thwaites Glacier is contributing approximately 5% of global sea‐level rise, and could add tens of centimeters to sea level over the coming centuries. We use an ocean model to calculate sub‐ice melting for a succession of Digital Elevation Models of the main trunk of Thwaites Glacier from 2011 to 2022. The ice evolution during this period induces a strong geometrical feedback onto melting. Ice thinning and retreat provides a larger melting area, thicker and better‐connected sub‐ice water column, and steeper ice base. This leads to stronger sub‐ice ocean currents, increasing melting by over 30% without any change in forcing from wider ocean conditions. This geometrical feedback over just 12 years is comparable to melting changes arising from plausible century‐scale changes in ocean conditions and subglacial meltwater inflow. These findings imply that ocean‐driven ice loss from Thwaites Glacier may only be weakly influenced by anthropogenic emissions mitigation.

show abstract

“…Several feedbacks have been identified as contributing to ice loss in the Amundsen Sea. These include ice flow acceleration related to bed geometry (Favier et al, 2014;Joughin et al, 2014) and ice damage (Lhermitte et al, 2020;Surawy-Stepney et al, 2023) and increased oceanic melting related to freshwater fluxes (Bett et al, 2020) and the geometry of ice-shelf cavities (Bradley et al, 2022;De Rydt et al, 2014;Donat-Magnin et al, 2017). Oceanic melting in new ice-shelf areas, formed as the grounding line retreats, is an important control on future sea-level rise (Arthern & Williams, 2017;Seroussi et al, 2017).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Strong ocean melting feedback during the recent retreat of Thwaites Glacier

Holland¹,

Bevan

Luckman

2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

<p>The accelerating ice loss from Thwaites Glacier is making a substantial contribution to global sea-level rise, and could add tens of centimetres to sea level over the coming centuries. This ice loss is associated with rapid thinning and disintegration of the floating sections of Thwaites Glacier, and retreat of its grounding line. In this study, we use a high-resolution ocean model and a series of Digital Elevation Models of the floating part of Thwaites Glacier from 2011 to 2022 to simulate the evolution of sub-ice melting during this rapid retreat.</p> <p>The results show that the ice evolution induces a strong geometrical feedback onto melting. The ice thinning and retreat provide a larger melting area, thicker and better-connected sub-ice water column, and steeper ice base. This leads to stronger sub-ice ocean currents, increasing melting by ~50% without any change in forcing from wider ocean conditions. This geometrical feedback over just 12 years is stronger than the melting changes expected from century-scale changes in ocean conditions and subglacial meltwater input. The strength of this feedback implies that greenhouse gas emissions policy may have a very weak influence over future ocean-driven ice loss from Thwaites Glacier.</p>

show abstract

The Influence of Pine Island Ice Shelf Calving on Basal Melting

Cited by 23 publications

References 58 publications

Drivers and Reversibility of Abrupt Ocean State Transitions in the Amundsen Sea, Antarctica

Drivers and Reversibility of Abrupt Ocean State Transitions in the Amundsen Sea, Antarctica

Strong Ocean Melting Feedback During the Recent Retreat of Thwaites Glacier

Strong ocean melting feedback during the recent retreat of Thwaites Glacier

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About