Spatial and temporal evolution of Pine Island Glacier thinning, 1995-2006

We use ERS-2 and ENVISAT satellite radar altimetry to examine spatial and temporal changes in the rate of thinning of the Pine Island Glacier, West Antarctica, during the period 1995 to 2006. We show that the pattern of thinning has both accelerated and spread inland to encompass tributaries flowing...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Wingham, DJ, Wallis, DW, Shepherd, A
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION 2009
Subjects:
Antarctic ice-sheet
sea-level rise
West Antarctica
Antarctic
Pine Island Glacier
Antarc*
Antarctica
Ice Sheet
Pine Island
Online Access:https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/141067/1/2009GL039126.pdf
https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/141067/
Description
Summary:We use ERS-2 and ENVISAT satellite radar altimetry to examine spatial and temporal changes in the rate of thinning of the Pine Island Glacier, West Antarctica, during the period 1995 to 2006. We show that the pattern of thinning has both accelerated and spread inland to encompass tributaries flowing into the central trunk of the glacier. Within the 5,400 km(2) central trunk, the average rate of volume loss quadrupled from 2.6 +/- 0.3 km(3) yr(-1) in 1995 to 10.1 +/- 0.3 km(3) yr(-1) in 2006. The region of lightly grounded ice at the glacier terminus is extending upstream, and the changes inland are consistent with the effects of a prolonged disturbance to the ice flow, such as the effects of ocean- driven melting. If the acceleration continues at its present rate, the main trunk of PIG will be afloat within some 100 years, six times sooner than anticipated. Citation: Wingham, D.J., D.W. Wallis, and A. Shepherd (2009), Spatial and temporal evolution of Pine Island Glacier thinning, 1995-2006, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L17501, doi:10.1029/2009GL039126.

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