Recent dramatic thinning of largest West Antarctic ice stream triggered by oceans

A growing body of observational data suggests that Pine Island Glacier (PIG) is changing on decadal or shorter timescales. These changes may have far-reaching consequences for the future of the West Antarctic ice sheet (WAIS) and global sea levels because of PIG's role as the ice sheet's p...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Payne, Antony J, Vieli, Andreas, Shepherd, Andrew P, Wingham, Duncan J, Rignot, Eric
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: eScholarship, University of California 2004
Subjects:
Climate Action
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Antarctic
Pine Island Glacier
West Antarctic Ice Sheet
Antarc*
Ice Sheet
Online Access:https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3bs010wg
Description
Summary:A growing body of observational data suggests that Pine Island Glacier (PIG) is changing on decadal or shorter timescales. These changes may have far-reaching consequences for the future of the West Antarctic ice sheet (WAIS) and global sea levels because of PIG's role as the ice sheet's primary drainage portal. We test the hypothesis that these changes are triggered by the adjoining ocean. Specifically, we employ an advanced numerical ice-flow model to simulate the effects of perturbations at the grounding line on PIG's dynamics. The speed at which these changes are propagated upstream implies a tight coupling between icesheet interior and surrounding ocean. Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union.

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