Dynamic response of Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet to potential collapse of Larsen C and George VI ice shelves
Ice shelf break-up and disintegration events over the past 5 decades have led to speed-up, thinning, and retreat of upstream tributary glaciers and increases to rates of global sea-level rise. The southward progression of these episodes indicates a climatic cause and in turn suggests that the larger...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:799236950ae74fda89d511dd0e536868 2023-05-15T13:49:08+02:00 Dynamic response of Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet to potential collapse of Larsen C and George VI ice shelves C. Schannwell S. Cornford D. Pollard N. E. Barrand 2018-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2307-2018 https://doaj.org/article/799236950ae74fda89d511dd0e536868 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://www.the-cryosphere.net/12/2307/2018/tc-12-2307-2018.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-12-2307-2018 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/799236950ae74fda89d511dd0e536868 The Cryosphere, Vol 12, Pp 2307-2326 (2018) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2018 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2307-2018 2022-12-30T22:55:57Z Ice shelf break-up and disintegration events over the past 5 decades have led to speed-up, thinning, and retreat of upstream tributary glaciers and increases to rates of global sea-level rise. The southward progression of these episodes indicates a climatic cause and in turn suggests that the larger Larsen C and George VI ice shelves may undergo a similar collapse in the future. However, the extent to which removal of the Larsen C and George VI ice shelves will affect upstream tributary glaciers and add to global sea levels is unknown. Here we apply numerical ice-sheet models of varying complexity to show that the centennial sea-level commitment of Larsen C embayment glaciers following immediate shelf collapse is low ( < 2.5 mm to 2100, < 4.2 mm to 2300). Despite its large size, Larsen C does not provide strong buttressing forces to upstream basins and its collapse does not result in large additional discharge from its tributary glaciers in any of our model scenarios. In contrast, the response of inland glaciers to a collapse of the George VI Ice Shelf may add up to 8 mm to global sea levels by 2100 and 22 mm by 2300 due in part to the mechanism of marine ice sheet instability. Our results demonstrate the varying and relative importance to sea level of the large Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves considered to present a risk of collapse. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula George VI Ice Shelf Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ice Shelves The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula George VI Ice Shelf ENVELOPE(-67.840,-67.840,-71.692,-71.692) The Cryosphere 12 7 2307 2326 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 C. Schannwell S. Cornford D. Pollard N. E. Barrand Dynamic response of Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet to potential collapse of Larsen C and George VI ice shelves |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Ice shelf break-up and disintegration events over the past 5 decades have led to speed-up, thinning, and retreat of upstream tributary glaciers and increases to rates of global sea-level rise. The southward progression of these episodes indicates a climatic cause and in turn suggests that the larger Larsen C and George VI ice shelves may undergo a similar collapse in the future. However, the extent to which removal of the Larsen C and George VI ice shelves will affect upstream tributary glaciers and add to global sea levels is unknown. Here we apply numerical ice-sheet models of varying complexity to show that the centennial sea-level commitment of Larsen C embayment glaciers following immediate shelf collapse is low ( < 2.5 mm to 2100, < 4.2 mm to 2300). Despite its large size, Larsen C does not provide strong buttressing forces to upstream basins and its collapse does not result in large additional discharge from its tributary glaciers in any of our model scenarios. In contrast, the response of inland glaciers to a collapse of the George VI Ice Shelf may add up to 8 mm to global sea levels by 2100 and 22 mm by 2300 due in part to the mechanism of marine ice sheet instability. Our results demonstrate the varying and relative importance to sea level of the large Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves considered to present a risk of collapse. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
C. Schannwell S. Cornford D. Pollard N. E. Barrand |
author_facet |
C. Schannwell S. Cornford D. Pollard N. E. Barrand |
author_sort |
C. Schannwell |
title |
Dynamic response of Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet to potential collapse of Larsen C and George VI ice shelves |
title_short |
Dynamic response of Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet to potential collapse of Larsen C and George VI ice shelves |
title_full |
Dynamic response of Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet to potential collapse of Larsen C and George VI ice shelves |
title_fullStr |
Dynamic response of Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet to potential collapse of Larsen C and George VI ice shelves |
title_full_unstemmed |
Dynamic response of Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet to potential collapse of Larsen C and George VI ice shelves |
title_sort |
dynamic response of antarctic peninsula ice sheet to potential collapse of larsen c and george vi ice shelves |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2307-2018 https://doaj.org/article/799236950ae74fda89d511dd0e536868 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-67.840,-67.840,-71.692,-71.692) |
geographic |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula George VI Ice Shelf |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula George VI Ice Shelf |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula George VI Ice Shelf Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ice Shelves The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula George VI Ice Shelf Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ice Shelves The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 12, Pp 2307-2326 (2018) |
op_relation |
https://www.the-cryosphere.net/12/2307/2018/tc-12-2307-2018.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-12-2307-2018 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/799236950ae74fda89d511dd0e536868 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2307-2018 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
2307 |
op_container_end_page |
2326 |
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1766250912877117440 |