Intermittent structural weakening and acceleration of the Thwaites Glacier Tongue between 2000 and 2018
Evolving conditions at the terminus of Thwaites Glacier will be important in determining the rate of its future sea-level contribution over the coming decades. Here, we use remote-sensing observations to investigate recent changes (2000–2018) in the structure and velocity of Thwaites Glacier and its...
Published in: | Journal of Glaciology |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2020
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Online Access: | https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42831/ https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.20 https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42831/9/intermittent_structural_weakening_and_acceleration_of_the_thwaites_glacier_tongue_between_2000_and_2018.pdf https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42831/1/intermittent_structural_weakening_and_acceleration_of_the_thwaites_glacier_tongue_between_2000_and_2018.pdf |
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ftunivnorthumb:oai:nrl.northumbria.ac.uk:42831 2023-05-15T16:57:39+02:00 Intermittent structural weakening and acceleration of the Thwaites Glacier Tongue between 2000 and 2018 Miles, B. W. J. Stokes, C. R. Jenkins, Adrian Jordan, Jim Jamieson, S. S. R. Gudmundsson, Hilmar 2020-06-01 text https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42831/ https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.20 https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42831/9/intermittent_structural_weakening_and_acceleration_of_the_thwaites_glacier_tongue_between_2000_and_2018.pdf https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42831/1/intermittent_structural_weakening_and_acceleration_of_the_thwaites_glacier_tongue_between_2000_and_2018.pdf en eng Cambridge University Press https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42831/9/intermittent_structural_weakening_and_acceleration_of_the_thwaites_glacier_tongue_between_2000_and_2018.pdf https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42831/1/intermittent_structural_weakening_and_acceleration_of_the_thwaites_glacier_tongue_between_2000_and_2018.pdf Miles, B. W. J., Stokes, C. R., Jenkins, Adrian, Jordan, Jim, Jamieson, S. S. R. and Gudmundsson, Hilmar (2020) Intermittent structural weakening and acceleration of the Thwaites Glacier Tongue between 2000 and 2018. Journal of Glaciology, 66 (257). pp. 485-495. ISSN 0022-1430 cc_by_4_0 CC-BY F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences Article PeerReviewed 2020 ftunivnorthumb https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.20 2022-09-25T06:11:52Z Evolving conditions at the terminus of Thwaites Glacier will be important in determining the rate of its future sea-level contribution over the coming decades. Here, we use remote-sensing observations to investigate recent changes (2000–2018) in the structure and velocity of Thwaites Glacier and its floating tongue. We show that the main trunk of Thwaites Glacier has accelerated by 38% over this period, while its previously intact floating tongue has transitioned to a weaker mélange of fractured icebergs bounded by sea ice. However, the rate of structural weakening and acceleration was not uniform across the observational period and we identify two periods of rapid acceleration and structural weakening (2006–2012; 2016–2018), separated by a period of deceleration and re-advance of the structurally-intact shear margin boundary (2012–2015). The timing of these accelerations/decelerations strongly suggests a link to variable ocean forcing. The weakened tongue now has some dependency on landfast sea ice for structural integrity and is vulnerable to changes in landfast ice persistency. Future reductions in landfast sea ice could manifest from changes in climate and/or the imminent removal of the B-22A iceberg from the Thwaites embayment. Such changes could have important implications for the integrity of the ice tongue and future glacier discharge. Article in Journal/Newspaper Journal of Glaciology Sea ice Thwaites Glacier Northumbria University, Newcastle: Northumbria Research Link (NRL) Thwaites Glacier ENVELOPE(-106.750,-106.750,-75.500,-75.500) Thwaites Glacier Tongue ENVELOPE(-106.833,-106.833,-75.000,-75.000) Journal of Glaciology 66 257 485 495 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Northumbria University, Newcastle: Northumbria Research Link (NRL) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivnorthumb |
language |
English |
topic |
F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences |
spellingShingle |
F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences Miles, B. W. J. Stokes, C. R. Jenkins, Adrian Jordan, Jim Jamieson, S. S. R. Gudmundsson, Hilmar Intermittent structural weakening and acceleration of the Thwaites Glacier Tongue between 2000 and 2018 |
topic_facet |
F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences |
description |
Evolving conditions at the terminus of Thwaites Glacier will be important in determining the rate of its future sea-level contribution over the coming decades. Here, we use remote-sensing observations to investigate recent changes (2000–2018) in the structure and velocity of Thwaites Glacier and its floating tongue. We show that the main trunk of Thwaites Glacier has accelerated by 38% over this period, while its previously intact floating tongue has transitioned to a weaker mélange of fractured icebergs bounded by sea ice. However, the rate of structural weakening and acceleration was not uniform across the observational period and we identify two periods of rapid acceleration and structural weakening (2006–2012; 2016–2018), separated by a period of deceleration and re-advance of the structurally-intact shear margin boundary (2012–2015). The timing of these accelerations/decelerations strongly suggests a link to variable ocean forcing. The weakened tongue now has some dependency on landfast sea ice for structural integrity and is vulnerable to changes in landfast ice persistency. Future reductions in landfast sea ice could manifest from changes in climate and/or the imminent removal of the B-22A iceberg from the Thwaites embayment. Such changes could have important implications for the integrity of the ice tongue and future glacier discharge. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Miles, B. W. J. Stokes, C. R. Jenkins, Adrian Jordan, Jim Jamieson, S. S. R. Gudmundsson, Hilmar |
author_facet |
Miles, B. W. J. Stokes, C. R. Jenkins, Adrian Jordan, Jim Jamieson, S. S. R. Gudmundsson, Hilmar |
author_sort |
Miles, B. W. J. |
title |
Intermittent structural weakening and acceleration of the Thwaites Glacier Tongue between 2000 and 2018 |
title_short |
Intermittent structural weakening and acceleration of the Thwaites Glacier Tongue between 2000 and 2018 |
title_full |
Intermittent structural weakening and acceleration of the Thwaites Glacier Tongue between 2000 and 2018 |
title_fullStr |
Intermittent structural weakening and acceleration of the Thwaites Glacier Tongue between 2000 and 2018 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Intermittent structural weakening and acceleration of the Thwaites Glacier Tongue between 2000 and 2018 |
title_sort |
intermittent structural weakening and acceleration of the thwaites glacier tongue between 2000 and 2018 |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42831/ https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.20 https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42831/9/intermittent_structural_weakening_and_acceleration_of_the_thwaites_glacier_tongue_between_2000_and_2018.pdf https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42831/1/intermittent_structural_weakening_and_acceleration_of_the_thwaites_glacier_tongue_between_2000_and_2018.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-106.750,-106.750,-75.500,-75.500) ENVELOPE(-106.833,-106.833,-75.000,-75.000) |
geographic |
Thwaites Glacier Thwaites Glacier Tongue |
geographic_facet |
Thwaites Glacier Thwaites Glacier Tongue |
genre |
Journal of Glaciology Sea ice Thwaites Glacier |
genre_facet |
Journal of Glaciology Sea ice Thwaites Glacier |
op_relation |
https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42831/9/intermittent_structural_weakening_and_acceleration_of_the_thwaites_glacier_tongue_between_2000_and_2018.pdf https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42831/1/intermittent_structural_weakening_and_acceleration_of_the_thwaites_glacier_tongue_between_2000_and_2018.pdf Miles, B. W. J., Stokes, C. R., Jenkins, Adrian, Jordan, Jim, Jamieson, S. S. R. and Gudmundsson, Hilmar (2020) Intermittent structural weakening and acceleration of the Thwaites Glacier Tongue between 2000 and 2018. Journal of Glaciology, 66 (257). pp. 485-495. ISSN 0022-1430 |
op_rights |
cc_by_4_0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.20 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
66 |
container_issue |
257 |
container_start_page |
485 |
op_container_end_page |
495 |
_version_ |
1766049215572606976 |