Inland Thinning of Pine Island Glacier, West Antarctica

The Pine Island Glacier (PIG) transports 69 cubic kilometers of ice each year from ∼10% of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). It is possible that a retreat of the PIG may accelerate ice discharge from the WAIS interior. Satellite altimetry and interferometry show that the grounded PIG thinned by u...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science
Main Authors: Shepherd, Andrew, Wingham, Duncan J., Mansley, Justin A. D., Corr, Hugh F. J.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2001
Subjects:
Antarctic
Pine Island Glacier
West Antarctic Ice Sheet
West Antarctica
Antarc*
Antarctica
Ice Sheet
Pine Island
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.291.5505.862
https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.291.5505.862
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Summary:The Pine Island Glacier (PIG) transports 69 cubic kilometers of ice each year from ∼10% of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). It is possible that a retreat of the PIG may accelerate ice discharge from the WAIS interior. Satellite altimetry and interferometry show that the grounded PIG thinned by up to 1.6 meters per year between 1992 and 1999, affecting 150 kilometers of the inland glacier. The thinning cannot be explained by short-term variability in accumulation and must result from glacier dynamics.

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