Four decades of Antarctic Ice Sheet mass balance from 1979–2017

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
• Main Authors: Rignot, Eric, Mouginot, Jérémie, Scheuchl, Bernd, van den Broeke, Michiel, van Wessem, Melchior J., Morlighem, Mathieu
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: National Academy of Sciences 2019
• Subjects: Physical Sciences; Antarctic; East Antarctica; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6347714/; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30642972; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1812883116

We evaluate the state of the mass balance of the Antarctic Ice Sheet over the last four decades using a comprehensive, precise satellite record and output products from a regional atmospheric climate model to document its impact on sea-level rise. The mass loss is dominated by enhanced glacier flow in areas closest to warm, salty, subsurface circumpolar deep water, including East Antarctica, which has been a major contributor over the entire period. The same sectors are likely to dominate sea-level rise from Antarctica in decades to come as enhanced polar westerlies push more circumpolar deep water toward the glaciers.