Drivers of Pine Island Glacier speed-up between 1996 and 2016
Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica is among the fastest changing glaciers worldwide. Over the last 2 decades, the glacier has lost in excess of a trillion tons of ice, or the equivalent of 3 mm of sea level rise. The ongoing changes are thought to have been triggered by ocean-induced thinning of...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:d7e3ae79d1d44c12bc359004534608f0 2023-05-15T13:52:26+02:00 Drivers of Pine Island Glacier speed-up between 1996 and 2016 J. De Rydt R. Reese F. S. Paolo G. H. Gudmundsson 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-113-2021 https://doaj.org/article/d7e3ae79d1d44c12bc359004534608f0 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/113/2021/tc-15-113-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-15-113-2021 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/d7e3ae79d1d44c12bc359004534608f0 The Cryosphere, Vol 15, Pp 113-132 (2021) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-113-2021 2022-12-31T09:44:56Z Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica is among the fastest changing glaciers worldwide. Over the last 2 decades, the glacier has lost in excess of a trillion tons of ice, or the equivalent of 3 mm of sea level rise. The ongoing changes are thought to have been triggered by ocean-induced thinning of its floating ice shelf, grounding line retreat, and the associated reduction in buttressing forces. However, other drivers of change, such as large-scale calving and changes in ice rheology and basal slipperiness, could play a vital, yet unquantified, role in controlling the ongoing and future evolution of the glacier. In addition, recent studies have shown that mechanical properties of the bed are key to explaining the observed speed-up. Here we used a combination of the latest remote sensing datasets between 1996 and 2016, data assimilation tools, and numerical perturbation experiments to quantify the relative importance of all processes in driving the recent changes in Pine Island Glacier dynamics. We show that (1) calving and ice shelf thinning have caused a comparable reduction in ice shelf buttressing over the past 2 decades; that (2) simulated changes in ice flow over a viscously deforming bed are only compatible with observations if large and widespread changes in ice viscosity and/or basal slipperiness are taken into account; and that (3) a spatially varying, predominantly plastic bed rheology can closely reproduce observed changes in flow without marked variations in ice-internal and basal properties. Our results demonstrate that, in addition to its evolving ice thickness, calving processes and a heterogeneous bed rheology play a key role in the contemporary evolution of Pine Island Glacier. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica Ice Shelf Pine Island Pine Island Glacier The Cryosphere West Antarctica Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Pine Island Glacier ENVELOPE(-101.000,-101.000,-75.000,-75.000) West Antarctica The Cryosphere 15 1 113 132 |
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 J. De Rydt R. Reese F. S. Paolo G. H. Gudmundsson Drivers of Pine Island Glacier speed-up between 1996 and 2016 |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica is among the fastest changing glaciers worldwide. Over the last 2 decades, the glacier has lost in excess of a trillion tons of ice, or the equivalent of 3 mm of sea level rise. The ongoing changes are thought to have been triggered by ocean-induced thinning of its floating ice shelf, grounding line retreat, and the associated reduction in buttressing forces. However, other drivers of change, such as large-scale calving and changes in ice rheology and basal slipperiness, could play a vital, yet unquantified, role in controlling the ongoing and future evolution of the glacier. In addition, recent studies have shown that mechanical properties of the bed are key to explaining the observed speed-up. Here we used a combination of the latest remote sensing datasets between 1996 and 2016, data assimilation tools, and numerical perturbation experiments to quantify the relative importance of all processes in driving the recent changes in Pine Island Glacier dynamics. We show that (1) calving and ice shelf thinning have caused a comparable reduction in ice shelf buttressing over the past 2 decades; that (2) simulated changes in ice flow over a viscously deforming bed are only compatible with observations if large and widespread changes in ice viscosity and/or basal slipperiness are taken into account; and that (3) a spatially varying, predominantly plastic bed rheology can closely reproduce observed changes in flow without marked variations in ice-internal and basal properties. Our results demonstrate that, in addition to its evolving ice thickness, calving processes and a heterogeneous bed rheology play a key role in the contemporary evolution of Pine Island Glacier. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
J. De Rydt R. Reese F. S. Paolo G. H. Gudmundsson |
author_facet |
J. De Rydt R. Reese F. S. Paolo G. H. Gudmundsson |
author_sort |
J. De Rydt |
title |
Drivers of Pine Island Glacier speed-up between 1996 and 2016 |
title_short |
Drivers of Pine Island Glacier speed-up between 1996 and 2016 |
title_full |
Drivers of Pine Island Glacier speed-up between 1996 and 2016 |
title_fullStr |
Drivers of Pine Island Glacier speed-up between 1996 and 2016 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Drivers of Pine Island Glacier speed-up between 1996 and 2016 |
title_sort |
drivers of pine island glacier speed-up between 1996 and 2016 |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-113-2021 https://doaj.org/article/d7e3ae79d1d44c12bc359004534608f0 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-101.000,-101.000,-75.000,-75.000) |
geographic |
Pine Island Glacier West Antarctica |
geographic_facet |
Pine Island Glacier West Antarctica |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica Ice Shelf Pine Island Pine Island Glacier The Cryosphere West Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica Ice Shelf Pine Island Pine Island Glacier The Cryosphere West Antarctica |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 15, Pp 113-132 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/113/2021/tc-15-113-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-15-113-2021 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/d7e3ae79d1d44c12bc359004534608f0 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-113-2021 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
113 |
op_container_end_page |
132 |
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1766256709152538624 |