Scaling of instability timescales of Antarctic outlet glaciers based on one-dimensional similitude analysis

Recent observations and ice-dynamic modeling suggest that a marine ice-sheet instability (MISI) might have been triggered in West Antarctica. The corresponding outlet glaciers, Pine Island Glacier (PIG) and Thwaites Glacier (TG), showed significant retreat during at least the last 2 decades. While o...

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Main Authors: Levermann, A., Feldmann, J.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Göttingen : Copernicus GmbH 2019
Subjects:
550
Online Access:https://oa.tib.eu/renate/handle/123456789/4906
https://doi.org/10.34657/3535
id ftleibnizopen:oai:oai.leibnizopen.de:WzA874cBdbrxVwz6Hqih
record_format openpolar
spelling ftleibnizopen:oai:oai.leibnizopen.de:WzA874cBdbrxVwz6Hqih 2023-06-11T04:06:59+02:00 Scaling of instability timescales of Antarctic outlet glaciers based on one-dimensional similitude analysis Levermann, A. Feldmann, J. 2019 application/pdf https://oa.tib.eu/renate/handle/123456789/4906 https://doi.org/10.34657/3535 eng eng Göttingen : Copernicus GmbH CC BY 4.0 Unported https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Cryosphere 13 (2019), Nr. 6 glacier dynamics hydrological modeling ice sheet ice shelf instability one-dimensional modeling scale effect timescale uncertainty analysis Antarctica Pine Island Glacier Thwaites Glacier West Antarctica 550 article Text 2019 ftleibnizopen https://doi.org/10.34657/3535 2023-05-07T23:09:54Z Recent observations and ice-dynamic modeling suggest that a marine ice-sheet instability (MISI) might have been triggered in West Antarctica. The corresponding outlet glaciers, Pine Island Glacier (PIG) and Thwaites Glacier (TG), showed significant retreat during at least the last 2 decades. While other regions in Antarctica have the topographic predisposition for the same kind of instability, it is so far unclear how fast these instabilities would unfold if they were initiated. Here we employ the concept of similitude to estimate the characteristic timescales of several potentially MISI-prone outlet glaciers around the Antarctic coast. Our results suggest that TG and PIG have the fastest response time of all investigated outlets, with TG responding about 1.25 to 2 times as fast as PIG, while other outlets around Antarctica would be up to 10 times slower if destabilized. These results have to be viewed in light of the strong assumptions made in their derivation. These include the absence of ice-shelf buttressing, the one-dimensionality of the approach and the uncertainty of the available data. We argue however that the current topographic situation and the physical conditions of the MISI-prone outlet glaciers carry the information of their respective timescale and that this information can be partially extracted through a similitude analysis. Leibniz_Fonds publishedVersion Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Pine Island Pine Island Glacier Thwaites Glacier West Antarctica LeibnizOpen (The Leibniz Association) Antarctic Misi ENVELOPE(26.683,26.683,66.617,66.617) Pine Island Glacier ENVELOPE(-101.000,-101.000,-75.000,-75.000) The Antarctic Thwaites Glacier ENVELOPE(-106.750,-106.750,-75.500,-75.500) West Antarctica
institution Open Polar
collection LeibnizOpen (The Leibniz Association)
op_collection_id ftleibnizopen
language English
topic glacier dynamics
hydrological modeling
ice sheet
ice shelf
instability
one-dimensional modeling
scale effect
timescale
uncertainty analysis
Antarctica
Pine Island Glacier
Thwaites Glacier
West Antarctica
550
spellingShingle glacier dynamics
hydrological modeling
ice sheet
ice shelf
instability
one-dimensional modeling
scale effect
timescale
uncertainty analysis
Antarctica
Pine Island Glacier
Thwaites Glacier
West Antarctica
550
Levermann, A.
Feldmann, J.
Scaling of instability timescales of Antarctic outlet glaciers based on one-dimensional similitude analysis
topic_facet glacier dynamics
hydrological modeling
ice sheet
ice shelf
instability
one-dimensional modeling
scale effect
timescale
uncertainty analysis
Antarctica
Pine Island Glacier
Thwaites Glacier
West Antarctica
550
description Recent observations and ice-dynamic modeling suggest that a marine ice-sheet instability (MISI) might have been triggered in West Antarctica. The corresponding outlet glaciers, Pine Island Glacier (PIG) and Thwaites Glacier (TG), showed significant retreat during at least the last 2 decades. While other regions in Antarctica have the topographic predisposition for the same kind of instability, it is so far unclear how fast these instabilities would unfold if they were initiated. Here we employ the concept of similitude to estimate the characteristic timescales of several potentially MISI-prone outlet glaciers around the Antarctic coast. Our results suggest that TG and PIG have the fastest response time of all investigated outlets, with TG responding about 1.25 to 2 times as fast as PIG, while other outlets around Antarctica would be up to 10 times slower if destabilized. These results have to be viewed in light of the strong assumptions made in their derivation. These include the absence of ice-shelf buttressing, the one-dimensionality of the approach and the uncertainty of the available data. We argue however that the current topographic situation and the physical conditions of the MISI-prone outlet glaciers carry the information of their respective timescale and that this information can be partially extracted through a similitude analysis. Leibniz_Fonds publishedVersion
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Levermann, A.
Feldmann, J.
author_facet Levermann, A.
Feldmann, J.
author_sort Levermann, A.
title Scaling of instability timescales of Antarctic outlet glaciers based on one-dimensional similitude analysis
title_short Scaling of instability timescales of Antarctic outlet glaciers based on one-dimensional similitude analysis
title_full Scaling of instability timescales of Antarctic outlet glaciers based on one-dimensional similitude analysis
title_fullStr Scaling of instability timescales of Antarctic outlet glaciers based on one-dimensional similitude analysis
title_full_unstemmed Scaling of instability timescales of Antarctic outlet glaciers based on one-dimensional similitude analysis
title_sort scaling of instability timescales of antarctic outlet glaciers based on one-dimensional similitude analysis
publisher Göttingen : Copernicus GmbH
publishDate 2019
url https://oa.tib.eu/renate/handle/123456789/4906
https://doi.org/10.34657/3535
long_lat ENVELOPE(26.683,26.683,66.617,66.617)
ENVELOPE(-101.000,-101.000,-75.000,-75.000)
ENVELOPE(-106.750,-106.750,-75.500,-75.500)
geographic Antarctic
Misi
Pine Island Glacier
The Antarctic
Thwaites Glacier
West Antarctica
geographic_facet Antarctic
Misi
Pine Island Glacier
The Antarctic
Thwaites Glacier
West Antarctica
genre Antarc*
Antarctic
Antarctica
Ice Sheet
Ice Shelf
Pine Island
Pine Island Glacier
Thwaites Glacier
West Antarctica
genre_facet Antarc*
Antarctic
Antarctica
Ice Sheet
Ice Shelf
Pine Island
Pine Island Glacier
Thwaites Glacier
West Antarctica
op_source Cryosphere 13 (2019), Nr. 6
op_rights CC BY 4.0 Unported
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
op_doi https://doi.org/10.34657/3535
_version_ 1768379342095646720