Rate of Mass Loss Across the Instability Threshold for Thwaites Glacier Determines Rate of Mass Loss for Entire Basin
Rapid change now underway on Thwaites Glacier (TG) raises concern that a threshold for unstoppable grounding line retreat has been or is about to be crossed. We use a high-resolution ice sheet model to examine the mechanics of TG self-sustained retreat by nudging the grounding line just past the poi...
Published in: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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Online Access: | http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1435112 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1435112 https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL076470 |
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ftosti:oai:osti.gov:1435112 2023-07-30T04:04:11+02:00 Rate of Mass Loss Across the Instability Threshold for Thwaites Glacier Determines Rate of Mass Loss for Entire Basin Waibel, M. S. Hulbe, C. L. Jackson, C. S. Martin, D. F. 2023-02-23 application/pdf http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1435112 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1435112 https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL076470 unknown http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1435112 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1435112 https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL076470 doi:10.1002/2017GL076470 58 GEOSCIENCES 2023 ftosti https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL076470 2023-07-11T09:25:34Z Rapid change now underway on Thwaites Glacier (TG) raises concern that a threshold for unstoppable grounding line retreat has been or is about to be crossed. We use a high-resolution ice sheet model to examine the mechanics of TG self-sustained retreat by nudging the grounding line just past the point of instability. We find that by modifying surface slope in the region of the grounding line, the rate of the forcing dictates the rate of retreat, even after the external forcing is removed. Grounding line retreats that begin faster proceed more rapidly because the shorter time interval for the grounding line to erode into the grounded ice sheet means relatively thicker ice and larger driving stress upstream of the boundary. Retreat is sensitive to short-duration re-advances associated with reduced external forcing where the bathymetry allows regrounding, even when an instability is invoked. Other/Unknown Material Ice Sheet Thwaites Glacier SciTec Connect (Office of Scientific and Technical Information - OSTI, U.S. Department of Energy) Thwaites Glacier ENVELOPE(-106.750,-106.750,-75.500,-75.500) Geophysical Research Letters 45 2 809 816 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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SciTec Connect (Office of Scientific and Technical Information - OSTI, U.S. Department of Energy) |
op_collection_id |
ftosti |
language |
unknown |
topic |
58 GEOSCIENCES |
spellingShingle |
58 GEOSCIENCES Waibel, M. S. Hulbe, C. L. Jackson, C. S. Martin, D. F. Rate of Mass Loss Across the Instability Threshold for Thwaites Glacier Determines Rate of Mass Loss for Entire Basin |
topic_facet |
58 GEOSCIENCES |
description |
Rapid change now underway on Thwaites Glacier (TG) raises concern that a threshold for unstoppable grounding line retreat has been or is about to be crossed. We use a high-resolution ice sheet model to examine the mechanics of TG self-sustained retreat by nudging the grounding line just past the point of instability. We find that by modifying surface slope in the region of the grounding line, the rate of the forcing dictates the rate of retreat, even after the external forcing is removed. Grounding line retreats that begin faster proceed more rapidly because the shorter time interval for the grounding line to erode into the grounded ice sheet means relatively thicker ice and larger driving stress upstream of the boundary. Retreat is sensitive to short-duration re-advances associated with reduced external forcing where the bathymetry allows regrounding, even when an instability is invoked. |
author |
Waibel, M. S. Hulbe, C. L. Jackson, C. S. Martin, D. F. |
author_facet |
Waibel, M. S. Hulbe, C. L. Jackson, C. S. Martin, D. F. |
author_sort |
Waibel, M. S. |
title |
Rate of Mass Loss Across the Instability Threshold for Thwaites Glacier Determines Rate of Mass Loss for Entire Basin |
title_short |
Rate of Mass Loss Across the Instability Threshold for Thwaites Glacier Determines Rate of Mass Loss for Entire Basin |
title_full |
Rate of Mass Loss Across the Instability Threshold for Thwaites Glacier Determines Rate of Mass Loss for Entire Basin |
title_fullStr |
Rate of Mass Loss Across the Instability Threshold for Thwaites Glacier Determines Rate of Mass Loss for Entire Basin |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rate of Mass Loss Across the Instability Threshold for Thwaites Glacier Determines Rate of Mass Loss for Entire Basin |
title_sort |
rate of mass loss across the instability threshold for thwaites glacier determines rate of mass loss for entire basin |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1435112 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1435112 https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL076470 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-106.750,-106.750,-75.500,-75.500) |
geographic |
Thwaites Glacier |
geographic_facet |
Thwaites Glacier |
genre |
Ice Sheet Thwaites Glacier |
genre_facet |
Ice Sheet Thwaites Glacier |
op_relation |
http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1435112 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1435112 https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL076470 doi:10.1002/2017GL076470 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL076470 |
container_title |
Geophysical Research Letters |
container_volume |
45 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
809 |
op_container_end_page |
816 |
_version_ |
1772815436371460096 |