Rate of Mass Loss Across the Instability Threshold for Thwaites Glacier Determines Rate of Mass Loss for Entire Basin
Rapid change now underway on Thwaites Glacier (TG) raises concern that a threshold for unstoppable grounding line retreat has been or is about to be crossed. We use a high-resolution ice sheet model to examine the mechanics of TG self-sustained retreat by nudging the grounding line just past the poi...
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ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org/ark:/13030/qt0s75n929 2023-05-15T16:40:25+02:00 Rate of Mass Loss Across the Instability Threshold for Thwaites Glacier Determines Rate of Mass Loss for Entire Basin Waibel, MS Hulbe, CL Jackson, CS Martin, DF 809 - 816 2018-01-28 application/pdf https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0s75n929 unknown eScholarship, University of California qt0s75n929 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0s75n929 public Geophysical Research Letters, vol 45, iss 2 Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences article 2018 ftcdlib 2021-03-28T08:18:58Z Rapid change now underway on Thwaites Glacier (TG) raises concern that a threshold for unstoppable grounding line retreat has been or is about to be crossed. We use a high-resolution ice sheet model to examine the mechanics of TG self-sustained retreat by nudging the grounding line just past the point of instability. We find that by modifying surface slope in the region of the grounding line, the rate of the forcing dictates the rate of retreat, even after the external forcing is removed. Grounding line retreats that begin faster proceed more rapidly because the shorter time interval for the grounding line to erode into the grounded ice sheet means relatively thicker ice and larger driving stress upstream of the boundary. Retreat is sensitive to short-duration re-advances associated with reduced external forcing where the bathymetry allows regrounding, even when an instability is invoked. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice Sheet Thwaites Glacier University of California: eScholarship Thwaites Glacier ENVELOPE(-106.750,-106.750,-75.500,-75.500) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of California: eScholarship |
op_collection_id |
ftcdlib |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences Waibel, MS Hulbe, CL Jackson, CS Martin, DF Rate of Mass Loss Across the Instability Threshold for Thwaites Glacier Determines Rate of Mass Loss for Entire Basin |
topic_facet |
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences |
description |
Rapid change now underway on Thwaites Glacier (TG) raises concern that a threshold for unstoppable grounding line retreat has been or is about to be crossed. We use a high-resolution ice sheet model to examine the mechanics of TG self-sustained retreat by nudging the grounding line just past the point of instability. We find that by modifying surface slope in the region of the grounding line, the rate of the forcing dictates the rate of retreat, even after the external forcing is removed. Grounding line retreats that begin faster proceed more rapidly because the shorter time interval for the grounding line to erode into the grounded ice sheet means relatively thicker ice and larger driving stress upstream of the boundary. Retreat is sensitive to short-duration re-advances associated with reduced external forcing where the bathymetry allows regrounding, even when an instability is invoked. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Waibel, MS Hulbe, CL Jackson, CS Martin, DF |
author_facet |
Waibel, MS Hulbe, CL Jackson, CS Martin, DF |
author_sort |
Waibel, MS |
title |
Rate of Mass Loss Across the Instability Threshold for Thwaites Glacier Determines Rate of Mass Loss for Entire Basin |
title_short |
Rate of Mass Loss Across the Instability Threshold for Thwaites Glacier Determines Rate of Mass Loss for Entire Basin |
title_full |
Rate of Mass Loss Across the Instability Threshold for Thwaites Glacier Determines Rate of Mass Loss for Entire Basin |
title_fullStr |
Rate of Mass Loss Across the Instability Threshold for Thwaites Glacier Determines Rate of Mass Loss for Entire Basin |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rate of Mass Loss Across the Instability Threshold for Thwaites Glacier Determines Rate of Mass Loss for Entire Basin |
title_sort |
rate of mass loss across the instability threshold for thwaites glacier determines rate of mass loss for entire basin |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0s75n929 |
op_coverage |
809 - 816 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-106.750,-106.750,-75.500,-75.500) |
geographic |
Thwaites Glacier |
geographic_facet |
Thwaites Glacier |
genre |
Ice Sheet Thwaites Glacier |
genre_facet |
Ice Sheet Thwaites Glacier |
op_source |
Geophysical Research Letters, vol 45, iss 2 |
op_relation |
qt0s75n929 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0s75n929 |
op_rights |
public |
_version_ |
1766030811310587904 |