Konrad, H, Shepherd, A, Gilbert, L et al. (4 more authors) (2018) Net retreat of Antarctic glacier grounding lines. Nature Geoscience, 11. pp. 258-262. ISSN 1752-0894
Abstract
Grounding lines are a key indicator of ice-sheet instability, because changes in their position reflect imbalance with the surrounding ocean and affect the flow of inland ice. Although the grounding lines of several Antarctic glaciers have retreated rapidly due to ocean-driven melting, records are too scarce to assess the scale of the imbalance. Here, we combine satellite altimeter observations of ice-elevation change and measurements of ice geometry to track grounding-line movement around the entire continent, tripling the coverage of previous surveys. Between 2010 and 2016, 22%, 3% and 10% of surveyed grounding lines in West Antarctica, East Antarctica and at the Antarctic Peninsula retreated at rates faster than 25 m yr‾¹ (the typical pace since the Last Glacial Maximum) and the continent has lost 1,463 km² ± 791 km² of grounded-ice area. Although by far the fastest rates of retreat occurred in the Amundsen Sea sector, we show that the Pine Island Glacier grounding line has stabilized, probably as a consequence of abated ocean forcing. On average, Antarctica’s fast-flowing ice streams retreat by 110 metres per metre of ice thinning.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | (c) 2018, Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature. All rights reserved. This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Nature Geoscience. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-018-0082-z |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Inst for Climate & Atmos Science (ICAS) (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number European Space Agency EOP-S/14/0008/DFP-dr NERC No External Reference European Space Agency No External Ref |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 04 Apr 2018 14:57 |
Last Modified: | 02 Oct 2018 00:39 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer Nature |
Identification Number: | 10.1038/s41561-018-0082-z |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:129218 |