New Mass-Conserving Bedrock Topography for Pine Island Glacier Impacts Simulated Decadal Rates of Mass Loss

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Nias, IJ, Cornford, SL, Payne, AJ
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2018
• Subjects: Pine Island Glacier; West Antarctica; Antarc*; Antarctica; Pine Island
• Online Access: http://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/3093303/; https://doi.org/10.1002/2017gl076493

High-resolution ice flow modeling requires bedrock elevation and ice thickness data, consistent with one another and with modeled physics. Previous studies have shown that gridded ice thickness products that rely on standard interpolation techniques (such as Bedmap2) can be inconsistent with the conservation of mass, given observed velocity, surface elevation change, and surface mass balance, for example, near the grounding line of Pine Island Glacier, West Antarctica. Using the BISICLES ice flow model, we compare results of simulations using both Bedmap2 bedrock and thickness data, and a new interpolation method that respects mass conservation. We find that simulations using the new geometry result in higher sea level contribution than Bedmap2 and reveal decadal-scale trends in the ice stream dynamics. We test the impact of several sliding laws and find that it is at least as important to accurately represent the bedrock and initial ice thickness as the choice of sliding law.