West Antarctic Ice Sheet retreat driven by Holocene warm water incursions

• Published in: Nature
• Main Authors: Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter, Smith, James A., Hodell, David A., Greaves, Mervyn, Poole, Christopher R., Kender, Sev, Williams, Mark, Andersen, Thorbjørn Joest, Jernas, Patrycja E., Elderfield, Henry, Klages, Johann P., Roberts, Stephen J., Gohl, Karsten, Larter, Robert D., Kuhn, Gerhard
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: Article; Amundsen Sea; Antarctic; Buttress; West Antarctic Ice Sheet; Antarc*; Ice Sheet; Ice Shelf; Ice Shelves
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5510715/; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28682333; https://doi.org/10.1038/nature22995

Glaciological and oceanographic observations coupled with numerical models show that warm Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) upwelling onto the West Antarctic continental shelf causes melting of the undersides of floating ice shelves. Because these ice shelves buttress glaciers feeding into them, their oc...