Observed rapid bedrock uplift in Amundsen Sea Embayment promotes ice-sheet stability

The marine portion of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) in the Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE) accounts for one-fourth of the cryospheric contribution to global sea-level rise and is vulnerable to catastrophic collapse. The bedrock response to ice mass loss, glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA), was th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science
Main Authors: Barletta, Valentina R., Bevis, Michael, Smith, Benjamin E., Wilson, Terry, Brown, Abel, Bordoni, Andrea, Willis, Michael, Khan, Shfaqat Abbas, Rovira-Navarro, Marc, Dalziel, Ian, Smalley, Robert, Kendrick, Eric, Konfal, Stephanie, Caccamise, Dana J., Aster, Richard C., Nyblade, Andy, Wiens, Douglas A.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2018
Subjects:
/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water
name=SDG 14 - Life Below Water
Antarctic
Amundsen Sea
West Antarctic Ice Sheet
Antarc*
Ice Sheet
Online Access:https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/24699686-5f06-4efe-9de7-458bab776777
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aao1447
Description
Summary:The marine portion of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) in the Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE) accounts for one-fourth of the cryospheric contribution to global sea-level rise and is vulnerable to catastrophic collapse. The bedrock response to ice mass loss, glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA), was thought to occur on a time scale of 10,000 years. We used new GPS measurements, which show a rapid (41 millimeters per year) uplift of the ASE, to estimate the viscosity of the mantle underneath. We found a much lower viscosity (4 × 10 18 pascal-second) than global average, and this shortens the GIA response time scale from tens to hundreds of years. Our finding requires an upward revision of ice mass loss from gravity data of 10% and increases the potential stability of the WAIS against catastrophic collapse.

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