Antarctic calving loss rivals ice-shelf thinning
Antarctica's ice shelves help to control the flow of glacial ice as it drains into the ocean, meaning that the rate of global sea-level rise is subject to the structural integrity of these fragile, floating extensions of the ice sheet 1 , 2 , 3 . Until now, data limitations have made it difficu...
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ftunivtasecite:oai:ecite.utas.edu.au:152079 2023-05-15T13:42:41+02:00 Antarctic calving loss rivals ice-shelf thinning Greene, CA Gardner, AS Schlegel, N-J Fraser, AD 2022 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05037-w http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35948639 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/152079 en eng Nature Publishing Group http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05037-w Greene, CA and Gardner, AS and Schlegel, N-J and Fraser, AD, Antarctic calving loss rivals ice-shelf thinning, Nature, 609 pp. 948-953. ISSN 0028-0836 (2022) [Refereed Article] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35948639 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/152079 Earth Sciences Physical geography and environmental geoscience Glaciology Refereed Article PeerReviewed 2022 ftunivtasecite https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05037-w 2022-11-21T23:17:12Z Antarctica's ice shelves help to control the flow of glacial ice as it drains into the ocean, meaning that the rate of global sea-level rise is subject to the structural integrity of these fragile, floating extensions of the ice sheet 1 , 2 , 3 . Until now, data limitations have made it difficult to monitor the growth and retreat cycles of ice shelves on a large scale, and the full impact of recent calving-front changes on ice-shelf buttressing has not been understood. Here, by combining data from multiple optical and radar satellite sensors, we generate pan-Antarctic, spatially continuous coastlines at roughly annual resolution since 1997. We show that from 1997 to 2021, Antarctica experienced a net loss of 36,701+-1,465 square kilometres (1.9 per cent) of ice-shelf area that cannot be fully regained before the next series of major calving events, which are likely to occur in the next decade. Mass loss associated with ice-front retreat (5,874+-396 gigatonnes) has been approximately equal to mass change owing to ice-shelf thinning over the past quarter of a century (6,113+-452 gigatonnes), meaning that the total mass loss is nearly double that which could be measured by altimetry-based surveys alone. We model the impacts of Antarctica's recent coastline evolution in the absence of additional feedbacks, and find that calving and thinning have produced equivalent reductions in ice-shelf buttressing since 2007, and that further retreat could produce increasingly significant sea-level rise in the future. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ice Shelves eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) Antarctic Nature |
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eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtasecite |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth Sciences Physical geography and environmental geoscience Glaciology |
spellingShingle |
Earth Sciences Physical geography and environmental geoscience Glaciology Greene, CA Gardner, AS Schlegel, N-J Fraser, AD Antarctic calving loss rivals ice-shelf thinning |
topic_facet |
Earth Sciences Physical geography and environmental geoscience Glaciology |
description |
Antarctica's ice shelves help to control the flow of glacial ice as it drains into the ocean, meaning that the rate of global sea-level rise is subject to the structural integrity of these fragile, floating extensions of the ice sheet 1 , 2 , 3 . Until now, data limitations have made it difficult to monitor the growth and retreat cycles of ice shelves on a large scale, and the full impact of recent calving-front changes on ice-shelf buttressing has not been understood. Here, by combining data from multiple optical and radar satellite sensors, we generate pan-Antarctic, spatially continuous coastlines at roughly annual resolution since 1997. We show that from 1997 to 2021, Antarctica experienced a net loss of 36,701+-1,465 square kilometres (1.9 per cent) of ice-shelf area that cannot be fully regained before the next series of major calving events, which are likely to occur in the next decade. Mass loss associated with ice-front retreat (5,874+-396 gigatonnes) has been approximately equal to mass change owing to ice-shelf thinning over the past quarter of a century (6,113+-452 gigatonnes), meaning that the total mass loss is nearly double that which could be measured by altimetry-based surveys alone. We model the impacts of Antarctica's recent coastline evolution in the absence of additional feedbacks, and find that calving and thinning have produced equivalent reductions in ice-shelf buttressing since 2007, and that further retreat could produce increasingly significant sea-level rise in the future. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Greene, CA Gardner, AS Schlegel, N-J Fraser, AD |
author_facet |
Greene, CA Gardner, AS Schlegel, N-J Fraser, AD |
author_sort |
Greene, CA |
title |
Antarctic calving loss rivals ice-shelf thinning |
title_short |
Antarctic calving loss rivals ice-shelf thinning |
title_full |
Antarctic calving loss rivals ice-shelf thinning |
title_fullStr |
Antarctic calving loss rivals ice-shelf thinning |
title_full_unstemmed |
Antarctic calving loss rivals ice-shelf thinning |
title_sort |
antarctic calving loss rivals ice-shelf thinning |
publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05037-w http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35948639 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/152079 |
geographic |
Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ice Shelves |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ice Shelves |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05037-w Greene, CA and Gardner, AS and Schlegel, N-J and Fraser, AD, Antarctic calving loss rivals ice-shelf thinning, Nature, 609 pp. 948-953. ISSN 0028-0836 (2022) [Refereed Article] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35948639 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/152079 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05037-w |
container_title |
Nature |
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1766171573480325120 |