Inland thinning of Pine Island Glacier, West Antarctica

The Pine island Glacier (PIG) transports 69 cubic kilometers of ice each year from similar to 10% of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). It is possible that a retreat of the PIG may accelerate ice discharge from the WAIS interior. Satellite altimetry and interferometry show that the grounded PIG th...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Shepherd, A, Wingham, DJ, Mansley, JAD, Corr, HFJ
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE 2001
Subjects:
ICE-SHEET
EAST ANTARCTICA
STREAM
SEA
Antarctic
East Antarctica
Pine Island Glacier
West Antarctic Ice Sheet
West Antarctica
Antarc*
Antarctica
Ice Sheet
Pine Island
Online Access:http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/8916/
Description
Summary:The Pine island Glacier (PIG) transports 69 cubic kilometers of ice each year from similar to 10% of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). It is possible that a retreat of the PIG may accelerate ice discharge from the WAIS interior. Satellite altimetry and interferometry show that the grounded PIG thinned by up to 1.6 meters per year between 1992 and 1999, affecting 150 kilometers of the inland glacier. The thinning cannot be explained by short-term variability in accumulation and must result from glacier dynamics.

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