Inter-decadal climate variability induces differential ice response along Pacific-facing West Antarctica.
Funder: Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland; doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000582 Funder: Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation (Prince Albert II Foundation); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011592 Funder: Scottish Alliance for Geoscience, Environment and Society (SAGES); doi:...
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ftunivcam:oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/345403 2023-07-30T03:56:01+02:00 Inter-decadal climate variability induces differential ice response along Pacific-facing West Antarctica. Christie, Frazer DW Steig, Eric J Gourmelen, Noel Tett, Simon FB Bingham, Robert G 2023-01-16T16:00:50Z application/pdf application/zip text/xml https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.92825 https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/345403 en eng Springer Science and Business Media LLC Nat Commun https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.90820 doi:10.17863/CAM.92825 https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/345403 Article /704/106/125 /704/106/829/2737 /123 /134 /139 /119 Article 2023 ftunivcam https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.9282510.17863/CAM.90820 2023-07-10T22:10:12Z Funder: Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland; doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000582 Funder: Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation (Prince Albert II Foundation); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011592 Funder: Scottish Alliance for Geoscience, Environment and Society (SAGES); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/100008083 West Antarctica has experienced dramatic ice losses contributing to global sea-level rise in recent decades, particularly from Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers. Although these ice losses manifest an ongoing Marine Ice Sheet Instability, projections of their future rate are confounded by limited observations along West Antarctica's coastal perimeter with respect to how the pace of retreat can be modulated by variations in climate forcing. Here, we derive a comprehensive, 12-year record of glacier retreat around West Antarctica's Pacific-facing margin and compare this dataset to contemporaneous estimates of ice flow, mass loss, the state of the Southern Ocean and the atmosphere. Between 2003 and 2015, rates of glacier retreat and acceleration were extensive along the Bellingshausen Sea coastline, but slowed along the Amundsen Sea. We attribute this to an interdecadal suppression of westerly winds in the Amundsen Sea, which reduced warm water inflow to the Amundsen Sea Embayment. Our results provide direct observations that the pace, magnitude and extent of ice destabilization around West Antarctica vary by location, with the Amundsen Sea response most sensitive to interdecadal atmosphere-ocean variability. Thus, model projections accounting for regionally resolved ice-ocean-atmosphere interactions will be important for predicting accurately the short-term evolution of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland Carnegie PhD Scholarship Scottish Alliance for Geoscience, Environment and Society (SAGES) Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation NSF Grant 2045075 European Space Agency Article in Journal/Newspaper Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Bellingshausen Sea Ice Sheet Pine Island Southern Ocean West Antarctica Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository Amundsen Sea Antarctic Bellingshausen Sea Pacific Southern Ocean The Antarctic West Antarctica |
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Open Polar |
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Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository |
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ftunivcam |
language |
English |
topic |
Article /704/106/125 /704/106/829/2737 /123 /134 /139 /119 |
spellingShingle |
Article /704/106/125 /704/106/829/2737 /123 /134 /139 /119 Christie, Frazer DW Steig, Eric J Gourmelen, Noel Tett, Simon FB Bingham, Robert G Inter-decadal climate variability induces differential ice response along Pacific-facing West Antarctica. |
topic_facet |
Article /704/106/125 /704/106/829/2737 /123 /134 /139 /119 |
description |
Funder: Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland; doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000582 Funder: Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation (Prince Albert II Foundation); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011592 Funder: Scottish Alliance for Geoscience, Environment and Society (SAGES); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/100008083 West Antarctica has experienced dramatic ice losses contributing to global sea-level rise in recent decades, particularly from Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers. Although these ice losses manifest an ongoing Marine Ice Sheet Instability, projections of their future rate are confounded by limited observations along West Antarctica's coastal perimeter with respect to how the pace of retreat can be modulated by variations in climate forcing. Here, we derive a comprehensive, 12-year record of glacier retreat around West Antarctica's Pacific-facing margin and compare this dataset to contemporaneous estimates of ice flow, mass loss, the state of the Southern Ocean and the atmosphere. Between 2003 and 2015, rates of glacier retreat and acceleration were extensive along the Bellingshausen Sea coastline, but slowed along the Amundsen Sea. We attribute this to an interdecadal suppression of westerly winds in the Amundsen Sea, which reduced warm water inflow to the Amundsen Sea Embayment. Our results provide direct observations that the pace, magnitude and extent of ice destabilization around West Antarctica vary by location, with the Amundsen Sea response most sensitive to interdecadal atmosphere-ocean variability. Thus, model projections accounting for regionally resolved ice-ocean-atmosphere interactions will be important for predicting accurately the short-term evolution of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland Carnegie PhD Scholarship Scottish Alliance for Geoscience, Environment and Society (SAGES) Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation NSF Grant 2045075 European Space Agency |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Christie, Frazer DW Steig, Eric J Gourmelen, Noel Tett, Simon FB Bingham, Robert G |
author_facet |
Christie, Frazer DW Steig, Eric J Gourmelen, Noel Tett, Simon FB Bingham, Robert G |
author_sort |
Christie, Frazer DW |
title |
Inter-decadal climate variability induces differential ice response along Pacific-facing West Antarctica. |
title_short |
Inter-decadal climate variability induces differential ice response along Pacific-facing West Antarctica. |
title_full |
Inter-decadal climate variability induces differential ice response along Pacific-facing West Antarctica. |
title_fullStr |
Inter-decadal climate variability induces differential ice response along Pacific-facing West Antarctica. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Inter-decadal climate variability induces differential ice response along Pacific-facing West Antarctica. |
title_sort |
inter-decadal climate variability induces differential ice response along pacific-facing west antarctica. |
publisher |
Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.92825 https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/345403 |
geographic |
Amundsen Sea Antarctic Bellingshausen Sea Pacific Southern Ocean The Antarctic West Antarctica |
geographic_facet |
Amundsen Sea Antarctic Bellingshausen Sea Pacific Southern Ocean The Antarctic West Antarctica |
genre |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Bellingshausen Sea Ice Sheet Pine Island Southern Ocean West Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Bellingshausen Sea Ice Sheet Pine Island Southern Ocean West Antarctica |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.90820 doi:10.17863/CAM.92825 https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/345403 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.9282510.17863/CAM.90820 |
_version_ |
1772810686662967296 |