Oscillatory response of Larsen C Ice Shelf flow to the calving of iceberg A-68 ...

• Main Authors: Deakin, KA, Christie, FDW, Boxall, K, Willis, IC
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2023
• Subjects: 37 Earth Sciences; 3709 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience; 13 Climate Action; Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Ice Shelf; Ice Shelves; Iceberg*
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.17863/cam.104518; https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/362155

Abstract The collapse of several ice shelves in the Antarctic Peninsula since the late 20th century has resulted in the upstream acceleration of multiple formerly buttressed outlet glaciers, raising questions about the stability of Antarctica's remaining ice shelves and the effects their demise may have upon inland ice. Here, we use high temporal resolution Sentinel-1A/B synthetic aperture radar-derived observations to assess the velocity response of Larsen C Ice Shelf (LCIS) to the calving of colossal iceberg A-68 in 2017. We find marked oscillations in ice-shelf flow across LCIS in the months following A-68's calving, beginning with a near-ice-shelf-wide slowdown of 11.3 m yr −1 on average. While falling close to the limits of detectability, these ice-flow variations appear to have been presaged by similar oscillations in the years prior to A-68's breakaway, associated primarily with major rifting events, together reflecting potentially hitherto unobserved ice-shelf mechanical processes with important ...