Direct measurements of ice-shelf flexure caused by surface meltwater ponding and drainage.
Global sea-level rise is caused, in part, by more rapid ice discharge from Antarctica, following the removal of the restraining forces of floating ice-shelves after their break-up. A trigger of ice-shelf break-up is thought to be stress variations associated with surface meltwater ponding and draina...
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ftunivcam:oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/288943 2024-02-04T09:55:55+01:00 Direct measurements of ice-shelf flexure caused by surface meltwater ponding and drainage. Banwell, Alison F Willis, Ian C Macdonald, Grant J Goodsell, Becky MacAyeal, Douglas R 2019-02-13 Electronic application/pdf https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/288943 https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.36206 eng eng Springer Science and Business Media LLC http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-08522-5 Nat Commun https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/288943 doi:10.17863/CAM.36206 0406 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience Article 2019 ftunivcam https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.36206 2024-01-11T23:26:33Z Global sea-level rise is caused, in part, by more rapid ice discharge from Antarctica, following the removal of the restraining forces of floating ice-shelves after their break-up. A trigger of ice-shelf break-up is thought to be stress variations associated with surface meltwater ponding and drainage, causing flexure and fracture. But until now, there have been no direct measurements of these processes. Here, we present field data from the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica, showing that the filling, to ~2 m depth, and subsequent draining, by overflow and channel incision, of four surface lakes causes pronounced and immediate ice-shelf flexure over multiple-week timescales. The magnitude of the vertical ice-shelf deflection reaches maxima of ~1 m at the lake centres, declining to zero at distances of <500 m. Our results should be used to guide development of continent-wide ice-sheet models, which currently do not simulate ice-shelf break-up due to meltwater loading and unloading. This work was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under award PLR-1443126 to the University of Chicago, a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship (ECF-2014-412) and a CIRES Postdoctoral Visiting Fellowship, both awarded to A.F.B., and a NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship (NNX15AN44H) awarded to G.J.M. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ice Shelves McMurdo Ice Shelf Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository McMurdo Ice Shelf ENVELOPE(166.500,166.500,-78.000,-78.000) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivcam |
language |
English |
topic |
0406 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience |
spellingShingle |
0406 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience Banwell, Alison F Willis, Ian C Macdonald, Grant J Goodsell, Becky MacAyeal, Douglas R Direct measurements of ice-shelf flexure caused by surface meltwater ponding and drainage. |
topic_facet |
0406 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience |
description |
Global sea-level rise is caused, in part, by more rapid ice discharge from Antarctica, following the removal of the restraining forces of floating ice-shelves after their break-up. A trigger of ice-shelf break-up is thought to be stress variations associated with surface meltwater ponding and drainage, causing flexure and fracture. But until now, there have been no direct measurements of these processes. Here, we present field data from the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica, showing that the filling, to ~2 m depth, and subsequent draining, by overflow and channel incision, of four surface lakes causes pronounced and immediate ice-shelf flexure over multiple-week timescales. The magnitude of the vertical ice-shelf deflection reaches maxima of ~1 m at the lake centres, declining to zero at distances of <500 m. Our results should be used to guide development of continent-wide ice-sheet models, which currently do not simulate ice-shelf break-up due to meltwater loading and unloading. This work was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under award PLR-1443126 to the University of Chicago, a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship (ECF-2014-412) and a CIRES Postdoctoral Visiting Fellowship, both awarded to A.F.B., and a NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship (NNX15AN44H) awarded to G.J.M. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Banwell, Alison F Willis, Ian C Macdonald, Grant J Goodsell, Becky MacAyeal, Douglas R |
author_facet |
Banwell, Alison F Willis, Ian C Macdonald, Grant J Goodsell, Becky MacAyeal, Douglas R |
author_sort |
Banwell, Alison F |
title |
Direct measurements of ice-shelf flexure caused by surface meltwater ponding and drainage. |
title_short |
Direct measurements of ice-shelf flexure caused by surface meltwater ponding and drainage. |
title_full |
Direct measurements of ice-shelf flexure caused by surface meltwater ponding and drainage. |
title_fullStr |
Direct measurements of ice-shelf flexure caused by surface meltwater ponding and drainage. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Direct measurements of ice-shelf flexure caused by surface meltwater ponding and drainage. |
title_sort |
direct measurements of ice-shelf flexure caused by surface meltwater ponding and drainage. |
publisher |
Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/288943 https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.36206 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(166.500,166.500,-78.000,-78.000) |
geographic |
McMurdo Ice Shelf |
geographic_facet |
McMurdo Ice Shelf |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ice Shelves McMurdo Ice Shelf |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ice Shelves McMurdo Ice Shelf |
op_relation |
https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/288943 doi:10.17863/CAM.36206 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.36206 |
_version_ |
1789960133408718848 |