Rapid glacier retreat rates observed in West Antarctica
International audience The Pope, Smith and Kohler glaciers, in the Amundsen Sea Embayment of West Antarctica, have experienced enhanced ocean-induced ice-shelf melt, glacier acceleration, ice thinning and grounding-line retreat in the past 30 years. Here we present observations of the grounding-line...
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Online Access: | https://insu.hal.science/insu-03706398 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-021-00877-z |
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ftinsu:oai:HAL:insu-03706398v1 2024-04-28T07:54:44+00:00 Rapid glacier retreat rates observed in West Antarctica Milillo, P. Rignot, E. Rizzoli, P. Scheuchl, B. Mouginot, J. Bueso-Bello, J. L. Prats-Iraola, P. Dini, L. Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE) Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP ) Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA) 2022 https://insu.hal.science/insu-03706398 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-021-00877-z en eng HAL CCSD Nature Publishing Group info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1038/s41561-021-00877-z insu-03706398 https://insu.hal.science/insu-03706398 BIBCODE: 2022NatGe.15.48M doi:10.1038/s41561-021-00877-z ISSN: 1752-0894 Nature Geoscience https://insu.hal.science/insu-03706398 Nature Geoscience, 2022, 15, pp.48-53. ⟨10.1038/s41561-021-00877-z⟩ [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2022 ftinsu https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-021-00877-z 2024-04-05T00:32:43Z International audience The Pope, Smith and Kohler glaciers, in the Amundsen Sea Embayment of West Antarctica, have experienced enhanced ocean-induced ice-shelf melt, glacier acceleration, ice thinning and grounding-line retreat in the past 30 years. Here we present observations of the grounding-line retreat of these glaciers since 2014 using a constellation of interferometric radar satellites combined with precision surface elevation data. We find that the grounding lines develop spatially variable, kilometre-scale, tidally induced migration zones. After correction for tidal effects, we detect a sustained pattern of retreat coincident with high melt rates of ungrounded ice, marked by episodes of more rapid retreat. In 2017, Pope Glacier retreated 3.5 km in 3.6 months, or 11.7 km yr -1 . In 2016-2018, Smith West retreated at 2 km yr -1 and Kohler at 1.3 km yr -1 . While the retreat slowed in 2018-2020, these retreat rates are faster than anticipated by numerical models on yearly timescales. We hypothesize that the rapid retreat is caused by unrepresented, vigorous ice-ocean interactions acting within newly formed cavities at the ice-ocean boundary. Article in Journal/Newspaper Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctica Ice Shelf West Antarctica Institut national des sciences de l'Univers: HAL-INSU Nature Geoscience 15 1 48 53 |
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Open Polar |
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Institut national des sciences de l'Univers: HAL-INSU |
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ftinsu |
language |
English |
topic |
[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences |
spellingShingle |
[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences Milillo, P. Rignot, E. Rizzoli, P. Scheuchl, B. Mouginot, J. Bueso-Bello, J. L. Prats-Iraola, P. Dini, L. Rapid glacier retreat rates observed in West Antarctica |
topic_facet |
[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences |
description |
International audience The Pope, Smith and Kohler glaciers, in the Amundsen Sea Embayment of West Antarctica, have experienced enhanced ocean-induced ice-shelf melt, glacier acceleration, ice thinning and grounding-line retreat in the past 30 years. Here we present observations of the grounding-line retreat of these glaciers since 2014 using a constellation of interferometric radar satellites combined with precision surface elevation data. We find that the grounding lines develop spatially variable, kilometre-scale, tidally induced migration zones. After correction for tidal effects, we detect a sustained pattern of retreat coincident with high melt rates of ungrounded ice, marked by episodes of more rapid retreat. In 2017, Pope Glacier retreated 3.5 km in 3.6 months, or 11.7 km yr -1 . In 2016-2018, Smith West retreated at 2 km yr -1 and Kohler at 1.3 km yr -1 . While the retreat slowed in 2018-2020, these retreat rates are faster than anticipated by numerical models on yearly timescales. We hypothesize that the rapid retreat is caused by unrepresented, vigorous ice-ocean interactions acting within newly formed cavities at the ice-ocean boundary. |
author2 |
Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE) Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP ) Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Milillo, P. Rignot, E. Rizzoli, P. Scheuchl, B. Mouginot, J. Bueso-Bello, J. L. Prats-Iraola, P. Dini, L. |
author_facet |
Milillo, P. Rignot, E. Rizzoli, P. Scheuchl, B. Mouginot, J. Bueso-Bello, J. L. Prats-Iraola, P. Dini, L. |
author_sort |
Milillo, P. |
title |
Rapid glacier retreat rates observed in West Antarctica |
title_short |
Rapid glacier retreat rates observed in West Antarctica |
title_full |
Rapid glacier retreat rates observed in West Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Rapid glacier retreat rates observed in West Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rapid glacier retreat rates observed in West Antarctica |
title_sort |
rapid glacier retreat rates observed in west antarctica |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://insu.hal.science/insu-03706398 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-021-00877-z |
genre |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctica Ice Shelf West Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctica Ice Shelf West Antarctica |
op_source |
ISSN: 1752-0894 Nature Geoscience https://insu.hal.science/insu-03706398 Nature Geoscience, 2022, 15, pp.48-53. ⟨10.1038/s41561-021-00877-z⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1038/s41561-021-00877-z insu-03706398 https://insu.hal.science/insu-03706398 BIBCODE: 2022NatGe.15.48M doi:10.1038/s41561-021-00877-z |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-021-00877-z |
container_title |
Nature Geoscience |
container_volume |
15 |
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1 |
container_start_page |
48 |
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53 |
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1797576765140369408 |