Articles | Volume 15, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4929-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4929-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
25 Oct 2021
Research article |
| 25 Oct 2021
| 25 Oct 2021
Nunataks as barriers to ice flow: implications for palaeo ice sheet reconstructions
Martim Mas e Braga
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Geomorphology and Glaciology, Department of Physical Geography, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Richard Selwyn Jones
Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, UK
School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Jennifer C. H. Newall
Geomorphology and Glaciology, Department of Physical Geography, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Irina Rogozhina
Department of Geography, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
Jane L. Andersen
Department of Geoscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Nathaniel A. Lifton
Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
Arjen P. Stroeven
Geomorphology and Glaciology, Department of Physical Geography, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Related authors
Yue Li, Gang Tang, Eleanor O’Rourke, Samar Minallah, Martim Mas e Braga, Sophie Nowicki, Robin S. Smith, David M. Lawrence, George C. Hurtt, Daniele Peano, Gesa Meyer, Birgit Hassler, Jiafu Mao, Yongkang Xue, and Martin Juckes
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3207, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3207, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Geoscientific Model Development (GMD).
Short summary
Short summary
Land and Land Ice Theme Opportunities describe a list that contains 25 variable groups with 716 variables, which are potentially available to the broad scientific audience for performing analysis in land-atmosphere coupling, hydrological processes and freshwater systems, glacier and ice sheet mass balance and their influence on the sea levels, land use, and plant phenology.
Donald Alexander Slater, Eleanor Johnstone, Martim Mas e Braga, Neil Fraser, Tom Cowton, and Mark Inall
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3934, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3934, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Glacial fjords connect ice sheets to the ocean, controlling heat delivery to glaciers, which impacts ice sheet melt, and freshwater discharge to the ocean, affecting ocean circulation. However, their dynamics are not captured in large-scale climate models. We designed a simplified, computationally efficient model – FjordRPM – which accurately captures key fjord processes. It has direct applications for improving projections of ice melt, ocean circulation and sea-level rise.
Martim Mas e Braga, Jorge Bernales, Matthias Prange, Arjen P. Stroeven, and Irina Rogozhina
The Cryosphere, 15, 459–478, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-459-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-459-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We combine a computer model with different climate records to simulate how Antarctica responded to warming during marine isotope substage 11c, which can help understand Antarctica's natural drivers of change. We found that the regional climate warming of Antarctica seen in ice cores was necessary for the model to match the recorded sea level rise. A collapse of its western ice sheet is possible if a modest warming is sustained for ca. 4000 years, contributing 6.7 to 8.2 m to sea level rise.
Yue Li, Gang Tang, Eleanor O’Rourke, Samar Minallah, Martim Mas e Braga, Sophie Nowicki, Robin S. Smith, David M. Lawrence, George C. Hurtt, Daniele Peano, Gesa Meyer, Birgit Hassler, Jiafu Mao, Yongkang Xue, and Martin Juckes
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3207, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3207, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Geoscientific Model Development (GMD).
Short summary
Short summary
Land and Land Ice Theme Opportunities describe a list that contains 25 variable groups with 716 variables, which are potentially available to the broad scientific audience for performing analysis in land-atmosphere coupling, hydrological processes and freshwater systems, glacier and ice sheet mass balance and their influence on the sea levels, land use, and plant phenology.
Lawrence A. Bird, Felicity S. McCormack, Johanna Beckmann, Richard S. Jones, and Andrew N. Mackintosh
The Cryosphere, 19, 955–973, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-955-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-955-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Vanderford Glacier is the fastest-retreating glacier in East Antarctica and may have important implications for future ice loss from the Aurora Subglacial Basin. Our ice sheet model simulations suggest that grounding line retreat is driven by sub-ice-shelf basal melting, in which warm ocean waters melt ice close to the grounding line. We show that current estimates of basal melt are likely too low, highlighting the need for improved estimates and direct measurements of basal melt in the region.
Lawrence A. Bird, Vitaliy Ogarko, Laurent Ailleres, Lachlan Grose, Jeremie Giraud, Felicity S. McCormack, David E. Gwyther, Jason L. Roberts, Richard S. Jones, and Andrew N. Mackintosh
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-211, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-211, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The terrain of the seafloor has important controls on the access of warm water to below floating ice shelves around Antarctica. Here, we present an open-source method to infer what the seafloor looks like around the Antarctic continent, and within these ice shelf cavities, using measurements of the Earth’s gravitational field. We present an improved seafloor map for the Vincennes Bay region in East Antarctica and assess its impact on ice melt rates.
Karlijn Ploeg and Arjen P. Stroeven
The Cryosphere, 19, 347–373, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-347-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-347-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Mapping of glacial landforms using lidar data shows that the retreating margin of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet dammed a series of lakes in the Torneträsk Basin during deglaciation. These lakes were more extensive than previously thought and produced outburst floods. We show that sections of the Pärvie Fault, the longest glacially activated fault of Sweden, ruptured multiple times and during the existence of ice-dammed lake Torneträsk.
Donald Alexander Slater, Eleanor Johnstone, Martim Mas e Braga, Neil Fraser, Tom Cowton, and Mark Inall
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3934, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3934, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Glacial fjords connect ice sheets to the ocean, controlling heat delivery to glaciers, which impacts ice sheet melt, and freshwater discharge to the ocean, affecting ocean circulation. However, their dynamics are not captured in large-scale climate models. We designed a simplified, computationally efficient model – FjordRPM – which accurately captures key fjord processes. It has direct applications for improving projections of ice melt, ocean circulation and sea-level rise.
Bradley W. Goodfellow, Marc W. Caffee, Greg Chmiel, Ruben Fritzon, Alasdair Skelton, and Arjen P. Stroeven
Solid Earth, 15, 1343–1363, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-15-1343-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-15-1343-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Reconstructions of past earthquakes are useful to assess earthquake hazard risk. We assess a limestone scarp exposed by earthquakes along the Sparta Fault, Greece, using 36Cl and rare-earth elements and yttrium (REE-Y). Our analyses indicate an increase in the average scarp slip rate from 0.8–0.9 mm yr-1 at 6.5–7.7 kyr ago to 1.1–1.2 mm yr-1 up to the devastating 464 BCE earthquake. REE-Y indicate clays in the fault scarp; their potential use in palaeoseismicity would benefit from further study.
Cari Rand, Richard S. Jones, Andrew N. Mackintosh, Brent Goehring, and Kat Lilly
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2674, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2674, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we determine how recently samples from a mountain in East Antarctica were last covered by the East Antarctic ice sheet. By examining concentrations of carbon-14 in rock samples, we determined that all but the summit of the mountain was buried under glacial ice within the last 15 thousand years. Other methods of estimating past ice thicknesses are not sensitive enough to capture ice cover this recent, so we were previously unaware that ice at this site was thicker at this time.
Andrés Castillo-Llarena, Franco Retamal-Ramírez, Jorge Bernales, Martín Jacques-Coper, Matthias Prange, and Irina Rogozhina
Clim. Past, 20, 1559–1577, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-1559-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-1559-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
During the last glacial period, the Patagonian Ice Sheet grew along the southern Andes, leaving marks on the landscape showing its former extents and timing. We use paleoclimate and ice sheet models to replicate its glacial history. We find that errors in the model-based ice sheet are likely induced by imprecise reconstructions of air temperature due to poorly resolved Andean topography in global climate models, while a fitting regional climate history is only captured by local sediment records.
Bradley W. Goodfellow, Arjen P. Stroeven, Nathaniel A. Lifton, Jakob Heyman, Alexander Lewerentz, Kristina Hippe, Jens-Ove Näslund, and Marc W. Caffee
Geochronology, 6, 291–302, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-6-291-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-6-291-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Carbon-14 produced in quartz (half-life of 5700 ± 30 years) provides a new tool to date exposure of bedrock surfaces. Samples from 10 exposed bedrock surfaces in east-central Sweden give dates consistent with the timing of both landscape emergence above sea level through postglacial rebound and retreat of the last ice sheet shown in previous reconstructions. Carbon-14 in quartz can therefore be used for dating in landscapes where isotopes with longer half-lives give complex exposure results.
Gustav Jungdal-Olesen, Jane Lund Andersen, Andreas Born, and Vivi Kathrine Pedersen
The Cryosphere, 18, 1517–1532, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1517-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1517-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We explore how the shape of the land and underwater features in Scandinavia affected the former Scandinavian ice sheet over time. Using a computer model, we simulate how the ice sheet evolved during different stages of landscape development. We discovered that early glaciations were limited in size by underwater landforms, but as these changed, the ice sheet expanded more rapidly. Our findings highlight the importance of considering landscape changes when studying ice-sheet history.
Felicity S. McCormack, Jason L. Roberts, Bernd Kulessa, Alan Aitken, Christine F. Dow, Lawrence Bird, Benjamin K. Galton-Fenzi, Katharina Hochmuth, Richard S. Jones, Andrew N. Mackintosh, and Koi McArthur
The Cryosphere, 17, 4549–4569, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4549-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4549-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Changes in Antarctic surface elevation can cause changes in ice and basal water flow, impacting how much ice enters the ocean. We find that ice and basal water flow could divert from the Totten to the Vanderford Glacier, East Antarctica, under only small changes in the surface elevation, with implications for estimates of ice loss from this region. Further studies are needed to determine when this could occur and if similar diversions could occur elsewhere in Antarctica due to climate change.
Nathaniel Lifton, Jim Wilson, and Allie Koester
Geochronology, 5, 361–375, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-5-361-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-5-361-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We describe a new, fully automated extraction system for in situ 14C at PRIME Lab that incorporates more reliable components and designs than our original systems. We use a LiBO2 flux to dissolve a quartz sample in oxygen after removing contaminant 14C with a lower-temperature combustion step. Experiments with new Pt/Rh sample boats demonstrated reduced procedural blanks, and analyses of well-characterized intercomparison materials tested the effects of process variables on 14C yields.
Paul A. Carling, John D. Jansen, Teng Su, Jane Lund Andersen, and Mads Faurschou Knudsen
Earth Surf. Dynam., 11, 817–833, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-817-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-817-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Many steep glaciated rock walls collapsed when the Ice Age ended. How ice supports a steep rock wall until the ice decays is poorly understood. A collapsed rock wall was surveyed in the field and numerically modelled. Cosmogenic exposure dates show it collapsed and became ice-free ca. 18 ka ago. The model showed that the rock wall failed very slowly because ice was buttressing the slope. Dating other collapsed rock walls can improve understanding of how and when the last Ice Age ended.
James A. Smith, Louise Callard, Michael J. Bentley, Stewart S. R. Jamieson, Maria Luisa Sánchez-Montes, Timothy P. Lane, Jeremy M. Lloyd, Erin L. McClymont, Christopher M. Darvill, Brice R. Rea, Colm O'Cofaigh, Pauline Gulliver, Werner Ehrmann, Richard S. Jones, and David H. Roberts
The Cryosphere, 17, 1247–1270, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1247-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1247-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The Greenland Ice Sheet is melting at an accelerating rate. To understand the significance of these changes we reconstruct the history of one of its fringing ice shelves, known as 79° N ice shelf. We show that the ice shelf disappeared 8500 years ago, following a period of enhanced warming. An important implication of our study is that 79° N ice shelf is susceptible to collapse when atmospheric and ocean temperatures are ~2°C warmer than present, which could occur by the middle of this century.
Alexandria J. Koester and Nathaniel A. Lifton
Geochronology, 5, 21–33, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-5-21-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-5-21-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In situ 14C’s short half-life (5.7 kyr) is unique among cosmogenic nuclides, making it sensitive to complex exposure and burial histories since 25 ka. Current extraction methods focus on quartz, but the ability to extract it from other minerals would expand applications. We developed MATLAB® scripts to calculate in situ 14C production rates from a broad range of mineral compositions. Results confirm O, Si, Al, and Mg as key targets but also find significant production from Na for the first time.
Dominic Saunderson, Andrew Mackintosh, Felicity McCormack, Richard Selwyn Jones, and Ghislain Picard
The Cryosphere, 16, 4553–4569, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4553-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4553-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We investigate the variability in surface melt on the Shackleton Ice Shelf in East Antarctica over the last 2 decades (2003–2021). Using daily satellite observations and the machine learning approach of a self-organising map, we identify nine distinct spatial patterns of melt. These patterns allow comparisons of melt within and across melt seasons and highlight the importance of both air temperatures and local controls such as topography, katabatic winds, and albedo in driving surface melt.
Jamey Stutz, Andrew Mackintosh, Kevin Norton, Ross Whitmore, Carlo Baroni, Stewart S. R. Jamieson, Richard S. Jones, Greg Balco, Maria Cristina Salvatore, Stefano Casale, Jae Il Lee, Yeong Bae Seong, Robert McKay, Lauren J. Vargo, Daniel Lowry, Perry Spector, Marcus Christl, Susan Ivy Ochs, Luigia Di Nicola, Maria Iarossi, Finlay Stuart, and Tom Woodruff
The Cryosphere, 15, 5447–5471, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5447-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5447-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Understanding the long-term behaviour of ice sheets is essential to projecting future changes due to climate change. In this study, we use rocks deposited along the margin of the David Glacier, one of the largest glacier systems in the world, to reveal a rapid thinning event initiated over 7000 years ago and endured for ~ 2000 years. Using physical models, we show that subglacial topography and ocean heat are important drivers for change along this sector of the Antarctic Ice Sheet.
Yongmei Gong and Irina Rogozhina
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2021-500, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2021-500, 2021
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
The results from our snow evolution modeling of glacierized drainage basins in western Norway forced by bias-corrected, IPCC class regional climate model experiment CORDEX outputs reveal that the applicability of such forcing to directly drive local scale projections is not satisfactory. It is necessary to correct the original CORDEX datasets for bias against reference data that represent the current climate conditions of a specific area of interest for future projections.
Rachel K. Smedley, David Small, Richard S. Jones, Stephen Brough, Jennifer Bradley, and Geraint T. H. Jenkins
Geochronology, 3, 525–543, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-3-525-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-3-525-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We apply new rock luminescence techniques to a well-constrained scenario of the Beinn Alligin rock avalanche, NW Scotland. We measure accurate erosion rates consistent with independently derived rates and reveal a transient state of erosion over the last ~4000 years in the wet, temperate climate of NW Scotland. This study shows that the new luminescence erosion-meter has huge potential for inferring erosion rates on sub-millennial scales, which is currently impossible with existing techniques.
Martim Mas e Braga, Jorge Bernales, Matthias Prange, Arjen P. Stroeven, and Irina Rogozhina
The Cryosphere, 15, 459–478, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-459-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-459-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We combine a computer model with different climate records to simulate how Antarctica responded to warming during marine isotope substage 11c, which can help understand Antarctica's natural drivers of change. We found that the regional climate warming of Antarctica seen in ice cores was necessary for the model to match the recorded sea level rise. A collapse of its western ice sheet is possible if a modest warming is sustained for ca. 4000 years, contributing 6.7 to 8.2 m to sea level rise.
Pepijn Bakker, Irina Rogozhina, Ute Merkel, and Matthias Prange
Clim. Past, 16, 371–386, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-371-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-371-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Northeastern Siberia is currently known for its harsh cold climate, but remarkably it did not experience large-scale glaciation during the last ice age. We show that the region is also exceptional in climate models. As a result of subtle changes in model setup, climate models show a strong divergence in simulated glacial summer temperatures that is ultimately driven by changes in the circumpolar atmospheric stationary wave pattern and associated northward heat transport to northeastern Siberia.
Jorge Bernales, Irina Rogozhina, Ralf Greve, and Maik Thomas
The Cryosphere, 11, 247–265, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-247-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-247-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
This study offers a hard test to the models commonly used to simulate an ice sheet evolution over multimillenial timescales. Using an example of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, we evaluate the performance of such models against observations and highlight a strong impact of different approaches towards modeling rapidly flowing ice sectors. In particular, our results show that inferences of previous studies may need significant adjustments to be adopted by a different type of ice sheet models.
Julien Seguinot, Irina Rogozhina, Arjen P. Stroeven, Martin Margold, and Johan Kleman
The Cryosphere, 10, 639–664, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-639-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-639-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
We use a numerical model based on approximated ice flow physics and calibrated against field-based evidence to present numerical simulations of multiple advance and retreat phases of the former Cordilleran ice sheet in North America during the last glacial cycle (120 000 to 0 years before present).
J. L. Andersen, D. L. Egholm, M. F. Knudsen, J. D. Jansen, and S. B. Nielsen
Earth Surf. Dynam., 3, 447–462, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-3-447-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-3-447-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
An increasing number of studies demonstrates links between the intensity of periglacial processes and bedrock erosion in steep mountain landscapes. Here, we quantify the dependence of periglacial processes on temperature and sediment thickness. This allows us to model frost processes across the full range of settings encountered in mountain landscapes. We find that sediment mantle thickness strongly modulates the relation between climate and periglacial weathering and sediment transport.
D. L. Egholm, J. L. Andersen, M. F. Knudsen, J. D. Jansen, and S. B. Nielsen
Earth Surf. Dynam., 3, 463–482, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-3-463-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-3-463-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
We incorporate relations between climate, sediment thickness and periglacial processes quantified in the accompanying paper into a landscape evolution model. This allows us to time-integrate the periglacial contribution to mountain topography on million-year time scales. It is a robust result of our simulations that periglacial processes lead to topographic smoothing. Owing to the climate dependency, this smoothing leads to formation of low-relief surfaces at altitudes controlled by temperature.
B. de Boer, A. M. Dolan, J. Bernales, E. Gasson, H. Goelzer, N. R. Golledge, J. Sutter, P. Huybrechts, G. Lohmann, I. Rogozhina, A. Abe-Ouchi, F. Saito, and R. S. W. van de Wal
The Cryosphere, 9, 881–903, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-881-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-881-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
We present results from simulations of the Antarctic ice sheet by means of an intercomparison project with six ice-sheet models. Our results demonstrate the difficulty of all models used here to simulate a significant retreat or re-advance of the East Antarctic ice grounding line. Improved grounding-line physics could be essential for a correct representation of the migration of the grounding line of the Antarctic ice sheet during the Pliocene.
B. W. Goodfellow, A. P. Stroeven, D. Fabel, O. Fredin, M.-H. Derron, R. Bintanja, and M. W. Caffee
Earth Surf. Dynam., 2, 383–401, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-2-383-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-2-383-2014, 2014
J. Seguinot, C. Khroulev, I. Rogozhina, A. P. Stroeven, and Q. Zhang
The Cryosphere, 8, 1087–1103, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1087-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1087-2014, 2014
I. Rogozhina and D. Rau
The Cryosphere, 8, 575–585, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-575-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-575-2014, 2014
Related subject area
Discipline: Ice sheets | Subject: Antarctic
Brief communication: Sensitivity of Antarctic ice shelf melting to ocean warming across basal melt models
Automatic grounding line delineation of DInSAR interferograms using deep learning
The impact of regional-scale upper-mantle heterogeneity on glacial isostatic adjustment in West Antarctica
Bathymetry-constrained warm-mode melt estimates derived from analysing oceanic gateways in Antarctica
Satellite data reveal details of glacial isostatic adjustment in the Amundsen Sea Embayment, West Antarctica
Review article: Feature tracing in radio-echo sounding products of terrestrial ice sheets and planetary bodies
Viscoelastic mechanics of tidally induced lake drainage in the grounding zone
A facet-based numerical model to retrieve ice sheet topography from Sentinel-3 altimetry
Current reversal leads to regime change in the Amery Ice Shelf cavity in the 21st century
Speed-up, slowdown, and redirection of ice flow on neighbouring ice streams in the Pope, Smith, and Kohler region of West Antarctica
Changes in Antarctic surface conditions and potential for ice shelf hydrofracturing from 1850 to 2200
A reconstruction of the ice thickness of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet north of 70° S
Bathymetry-constrained impact of relative sea-level change on basal melting in Antarctica
Age–depth distribution in western Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica, and Antarctic-wide comparisons of internal reflection horizons
Assessing the sensitivity of the Vanderford Glacier, East Antarctica, to basal melt and calving
A history-matching analysis of the Antarctic Ice Sheet since the Last Interglacial – Part 1: Ice sheet evolution
Gravity-derived Antarctic bathymetry using the Tomofast-x open-source code: a case study of Vincennes Bay
ISMIP6-based Antarctic projections to 2100: simulations with the BISICLES ice sheet model
Assessing the suitability of sites near Pine Island Glacier for subglacial bedrock drilling aimed at detecting Holocene retreat–readvance
Capturing Solid Earth and Ice Sheet Interactions: Insights from Reinforced Ridges in Thwaites Glacier
Modelling GNSS-observed seasonal velocity changes of the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica, using the Ice-sheet and Sea-level System Model (ISSM)
The surface mass balance and near-surface climate of the Antarctic ice sheet in RACMO2.4p1
Monitoring Shear-Zone Weakening in East Antarctic Outlet Glaciers through Differential InSAR Measurements
A fast and simplified subglacial hydrological model for the Antarctic Ice Sheet and outlet glaciers
Thwaites Glacier thins and retreats fastest where ice-shelf channels intersect its grounding zone
Melt sensitivity of irreversible retreat of Pine Island Glacier
A model framework for atmosphere–snow water vapor exchange and the associated isotope effects at Dome Argus, Antarctica – Part 1: The diurnal changes
Review Article: Antarctica’s internal architecture: Towards a radiostratigraphically-informed age–depth model of the Antarctic ice sheets
A thicker, rather than thinner, East Antarctic Ice Sheet plateau during the Last Glacial Maximum
The long-term sea-level commitment from Antarctica
The influence of present-day regional surface mass balance uncertainties on the future evolution of the Antarctic Ice Sheet
How well can satellite altimetry and firn models resolve Antarctic firn thickness variations?
Feedback mechanisms controlling Antarctic glacial-cycle dynamics simulated with a coupled ice sheet–solid Earth model
The effect of ice shelf rheology on shelf edge bending
Hysteresis of idealized, instability-prone outlet glaciers in response to pinning-point buttressing variation
A physics-based Antarctic melt detection technique: combining Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2, radiative-transfer modeling, and firn modeling
Brief communication: Precision measurement of the index of refraction of deep glacial ice at radio frequencies at Summit Station, Greenland
Widespread increase in discharge from west Antarctic Peninsula glaciers since 2018
Surface dynamics and history of the calving cycle of Astrolabe Glacier (Adélie Coast, Antarctica) derived from satellite imagery
Weak relationship between remotely detected crevasses and inferred ice rheological parameters on Antarctic ice shelves
Extensive palaeo-surfaces beneath the Evans–Rutford region of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet control modern and past ice flow
Towards the systematic reconnaissance of seismic signals from glaciers and ice sheets – Part 1: Event detection for cryoseismology
Towards the systematic reconnaissance of seismic signals from glaciers and ice sheets – Part 2: Unsupervised learning for source process characterization
Geometric amplification and suppression of ice-shelf basal melt in West Antarctica
Alpine topography of the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains, Antarctica, mapped from ice sheet surface morphology
Impact of boundary conditions on the modeled thermal regime of the Antarctic ice sheet
The staggered retreat of grounded ice in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM)
The effect of landfast sea ice buttressing on ice dynamic speedup in the Larsen B embayment, Antarctica
Meteoric water and glacial melt in the southeastern Amundsen Sea: a time series from 1994 to 2020
Evaporative controls on Antarctic precipitation: an ECHAM6 model study using innovative water tracer diagnostics
Erwin Lambert and Clara Burgard
The Cryosphere, 19, 2495–2505, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2495-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2495-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The effect of ocean warming on Antarctic ice-sheet melting is a major source of uncertainty in estimates of future sea level rise. We compare five melt models to show that ocean warming strongly increases melting. Despite their calibration based on present-day melting, the models disagree on the amount of melt increase. In some important regions, the difference reaches a factor 100. We conclude that using various melt models is important to accurately estimate uncertainties in future sea level rise.
Sindhu Ramanath, Lukas Krieger, Dana Floricioiu, Codruț-Andrei Diaconu, and Konrad Heidler
The Cryosphere, 19, 2431–2455, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2431-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2431-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Grounding lines are geophysical features that divide ice masses on the bedrock and floating ice shelves. Their accurate location is required for calculating the mass balance of ice sheets and glaciers in Antarctica and Greenland. Human experts still manually detect them in satellite-based interferometric radar images, which is inefficient given the growing volume of data. We have developed an artificial-intelligence-based automatic detection algorithm to generate Antarctica-wide grounding lines.
Erica M. Lucas, Natalya Gomez, and Terry Wilson
The Cryosphere, 19, 2387–2405, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2387-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2387-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We investigate the effects of incorporating regional-scale lateral variability (ca. 50–100 km) in upper-mantle structure into models of Earth deformation and sea level change associated with ice mass changes in West Antarctica. Regional-scale variability in upper-mantle structure is found to impact relative sea level and crustal rate predictions for modern (last ca. 25–125 years) and projected (next ca. 300 years) ice mass changes, especially in coastal regions that undergo rapid ice mass loss.
Lena Nicola, Ronja Reese, Moritz Kreuzer, Torsten Albrecht, and Ricarda Winkelmann
The Cryosphere, 19, 2263–2287, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2263-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2263-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We identify potential oceanic gateways to Antarctic grounding lines based on high-resolution bathymetry data and examine the effect of access depths on ice-shelf melt rates. These gateways manifest the deepest topographic features that could channel warm water masses to the base of the ice sheet. We identify oceanic gateways in several Antarctic regions and estimate an upper bound of melt rate changes in case all warm water masses gain access to the cavities.
Matthias O. Willen, Bert Wouters, Taco Broerse, Eric Buchta, and Veit Helm
The Cryosphere, 19, 2213–2227, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2213-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2213-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet in the Amundsen Sea Embayment is likely in the near future. Vertical uplift of bedrock due to glacial isostatic adjustment stabilizes the ice sheet and may delay its collapse. So far, only spatially and temporally sparse GPS measurements have been able to observe this bedrock motion. We have combined satellite data and quantified a region-wide bedrock motion that independently matches GPS measurements. This can improve ice sheet predictions.
Hameed Moqadam and Olaf Eisen
The Cryosphere, 19, 2159–2196, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2159-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2159-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This is an overview of methodologies that have been applied to map the internal reflection horizons, or ice-layer boundaries, of ice sheets on Earth and other planets. We briefly explain radar applications in glaciology and the methods which have been used and published. There are summaries of the published work of the last 2 decades. Finally, we conclude by introducing the gaps and opportunities for further advancement in this field, and we present possible future directions.
Hanwen Zhang, Richard F. Katz, and Laura A. Stevens
The Cryosphere, 19, 2087–2103, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2087-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2087-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
In Antarctica, supraglacial lakes often form near grounding lines due to surface melting. We model viscoelastic tidal flexure in these regions to assess its contribution to lake drainage via hydrofracturing. Results show that tidal flexure and lake-water pressure jointly control drainage near unconfined grounding lines. Sensitivity analysis indicates the importance of the Maxwell time of ice in modulating the tidal response.
Jérémie Aublanc, François Boy, Franck Borde, and Pierre Féménias
The Cryosphere, 19, 1937–1954, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1937-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1937-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
In this study we developed a novel processing chain to derive the ice sheet topography from Sentinel-3 altimetry measurements (named "AMPLI"). The major innovation lies in the use of numerical simulations to geolocate the radar impact point on the ground. The performance improvement is substantial compared to ground segment processing. Furthermore, with AMPLI we show that Sentinel-3 estimates the surface elevation change of the Antarctic ice sheet with a high level of agreement with ICESat-2.
Jing Jin, Antony J. Payne, and Christopher Y. S. Bull
The Cryosphere, 19, 1873–1896, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1873-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1873-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The Amery Ice Shelf cavity is one of the largest cold cavities filled by relatively cold Dense Shelf Water. However, in this study, we show that warm intrusion of modified Circumpolar Deep Water flushes the Amery cavity, which changes it from a cold cavity to a warm cavity and leads to an abrupt increase in the basal melt rate in the 2060s. The shift to a warm cavity is attributed to a freshening-driven current reversal in front of the ice shelf.
Heather L. Selley, Anna E. Hogg, Benjamin J. Davison, Pierre Dutrieux, and Thomas Slater
The Cryosphere, 19, 1725–1738, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1725-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1725-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We used satellite observations to measure recent changes in ice speed and flow direction in the Pope, Smith, and Kohler region of West Antarctica (2005–2022). We found substantial speed-up on seven ice streams of up to 87 %. However, Kohler West Glacier has slowed by 10 %, due to the redirection of ice flow into its rapidly thinning neighbour. This process of “ice piracy” has not previously been directly observed on this rapid timescale and may influence future ice shelf and sheet mass changes.
Nicolas C. Jourdain, Charles Amory, Christoph Kittel, and Gaël Durand
The Cryosphere, 19, 1641–1674, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1641-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1641-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
A mixed statistical–physical approach is used to reproduce the behaviour of a regional climate model. From that, we estimate the contribution of snowfall and melting at the surface of the Antarctic Ice Sheet to changes in global mean sea level. We also investigate the impact of surface melting in a warmer climate on the stability of the Antarctic ice shelves that provide back stress on the ice flow to the ocean.
Kaian Shahateet, Johannes J. Fürst, Francisco Navarro, Thorsten Seehaus, Daniel Farinotti, and Matthias Braun
The Cryosphere, 19, 1577–1597, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1577-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1577-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
In the present work, we provide a new ice thickness reconstruction of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet north of 70º S using inversion modeling. This model consists of two steps: the first uses basic assumptions of the rheology of the glacier, and the second uses mass conservation to improve the reconstruction where the assumptions made previously are expected to fail. Validation with independent data showed that our reconstruction improved compared to other reconstructions that are available.
Moritz Kreuzer, Torsten Albrecht, Lena Nicola, Ronja Reese, and Ricarda Winkelmann
The Cryosphere, 19, 1181–1203, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1181-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1181-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The study investigates how changing sea levels around Antarctica can potentially affect the melting of floating ice shelves. It utilizes numerical models for both the Antarctic Ice Sheet and the solid Earth, investigating features like troughs and sills that control the flow of ocean water onto the continental shelf. The research finds that compared to climatic changes, the effect of relative sea level on ice-shelf melting is small.
Steven Franke, Daniel Steinhage, Veit Helm, Alexandra M. Zuhr, Julien A. Bodart, Olaf Eisen, and Paul Bons
The Cryosphere, 19, 1153–1180, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1153-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1153-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The study presents internal reflection horizons (IRHs) over an area of 450 000 km² from western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, spanning 4.8–91 ka. Using radar and ice core data, nine IRHs were dated and correlated with volcanic events. The data enhance our understanding of the ice sheet's age–depth architecture, accumulation, and dynamics. The findings inform ice flow models and contribute to Antarctic-wide comparisons of IRHs, supporting efforts toward a 3D age–depth ice sheet model.
Lawrence A. Bird, Felicity S. McCormack, Johanna Beckmann, Richard S. Jones, and Andrew N. Mackintosh
The Cryosphere, 19, 955–973, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-955-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-955-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Vanderford Glacier is the fastest-retreating glacier in East Antarctica and may have important implications for future ice loss from the Aurora Subglacial Basin. Our ice sheet model simulations suggest that grounding line retreat is driven by sub-ice-shelf basal melting, in which warm ocean waters melt ice close to the grounding line. We show that current estimates of basal melt are likely too low, highlighting the need for improved estimates and direct measurements of basal melt in the region.
Benoit S. Lecavalier and Lev Tarasov
The Cryosphere, 19, 919–953, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-919-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-919-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We present the evolution of the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) over the last 200 kyr by means of a history-matching analysis where an updated observational database constrained ~ 10 000 model simulations. During peak glaciation at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the best-fitting sub-ensemble of AIS simulations reached an excess grounded ice volume relative to the present of 9.2 to 26.5 m equivalent sea level relative to the present. The LGM AIS volume can help resolve the LGM missing-ice problem.
Lawrence A. Bird, Vitaliy Ogarko, Laurent Ailleres, Lachlan Grose, Jeremie Giraud, Felicity S. McCormack, David E. Gwyther, Jason L. Roberts, Richard S. Jones, and Andrew N. Mackintosh
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-211, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-211, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The terrain of the seafloor has important controls on the access of warm water to below floating ice shelves around Antarctica. Here, we present an open-source method to infer what the seafloor looks like around the Antarctic continent, and within these ice shelf cavities, using measurements of the Earth’s gravitational field. We present an improved seafloor map for the Vincennes Bay region in East Antarctica and assess its impact on ice melt rates.
James F. O'Neill, Tamsin L. Edwards, Daniel F. Martin, Courtney Shafer, Stephen L. Cornford, Hélène L. Seroussi, Sophie Nowicki, Mira Adhikari, and Lauren J. Gregoire
The Cryosphere, 19, 541–563, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-541-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-541-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We use an ice sheet model to simulate the Antarctic contribution to sea level over the 21st century under a range of future climates and varying how sensitive the ice sheet is to different processes. We find that ocean temperatures increase and more snow falls on the ice sheet under stronger warming scenarios. When the ice sheet is sensitive to ocean warming, ocean melt-driven loss exceeds snowfall-driven gains, meaning that the sea level contribution is greater with more climate warming.
Joanne S. Johnson, John Woodward, Ian Nesbitt, Kate Winter, Seth Campbell, Keir A. Nichols, Ryan A. Venturelli, Scott Braddock, Brent M. Goehring, Brenda Hall, Dylan H. Rood, and Greg Balco
The Cryosphere, 19, 303–324, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-303-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-303-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Determining where and when the Antarctic ice sheet was smaller than present requires recovery and exposure dating of subglacial bedrock. Here we use ice sheet model outputs and field data (geological and glaciological observations, bedrock samples, and ground-penetrating radar) to assess the suitability for subglacial drilling of sites in the Hudson Mountains, West Antarctica. We find that no sites are perfect, but two are feasible, with the most suitable being Winkie Nunatak (74.86°S, 99.77°W).
Luc Houriez, Eric Larour, Lambert Caron, Nicole-Jeanne Schlegel, Surendra Adhikari, Erik Ivins, Tyler Pelle, Hélène Seroussi, Eric Darve, and Martin Fischer
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4136, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4136, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We studied how interactions between the ice sheet and the Earth’s evolving surface affect the future of Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica. We find that small features in the bedrock play a major role in these interactions which can delay the glacier’s retreat by decades or even centuries. This can significantly reduce sea-level rise projections. Our work highlights resolution requirements for similar ice—earth models, and the importance of bedrock mapping efforts in Antarctica.
Francesca Baldacchino, Nicholas R. Golledge, Mathieu Morlighem, Huw Horgan, Alanna V. Alevropoulos-Borrill, Alena Malyarenko, Alexandra Gossart, Daniel P. Lowry, and Laurine van Haastrecht
The Cryosphere, 19, 107–127, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-107-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-107-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Understanding how the Ross Ice Shelf flow is changing in a warming world is important for predicting ice sheet change. Field measurements show clear intra-annual variations in ice flow; however, it is unclear what mechanisms drive this variability. We show that local perturbations in basal melt can have a significant impact on ice flow speed, but a combination of forcings is likely driving the observed variability in ice flow.
Christiaan T. van Dalum, Willem Jan van de Berg, Michiel R. van den Broeke, and Maurice van Tiggelen
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3728, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3728, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we present a new surface mass balance (SMB) and near-surface climate product for Antarctica with the regional climate model RACMO2.4p1. We assess the impact of major model updates on the climate of Antarctica. Locally, the SMB has changed substantially, but also agrees well with observations. In addition, we show that the SMB components, surface energy budget, albedo, pressure, temperature and wind speed compare well with in-situ and remote sensing observations.
Christian T. Wild, Reinhard Drews, Niklas Neckel, Joohan Lee, Sihyung Kim, Hyangsun Han, Won Sang Lee, Veit Helm, Sebastian Harry Reid Rosier, Oliver J. Marsh, and Wolfgang Rack
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3593, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3593, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The stability of the Antarctic Ice Sheet depends on how resistance along the sides of large glaciers slows down the flow of ice into the ocean. We present a method to map ice strength using the effect of ocean tides on floating ice shelves. Incorporating weaker ice in shear zones improves the accuracy of model predictions compared to satellite observations. This demonstrates the untapped potential of radar satellites to map ice stiffness in the most critical areas for ice sheet stability.
Elise Kazmierczak, Thomas Gregov, Violaine Coulon, and Frank Pattyn
The Cryosphere, 18, 5887–5911, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5887-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5887-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We introduce a new fast model for water flow beneath the ice sheet capable of handling various hydrological and bed conditions in a unified way. Applying this model to Thwaites Glacier, we show that accounting for this water flow in ice sheet model projections has the potential to greatly increase the contribution to future sea level rise. We also demonstrate that the sensitivity of the ice sheet in response to external changes depends on the efficiency of the drainage and the bed type.
Allison M. Chartrand, Ian M. Howat, Ian R. Joughin, and Benjamin E. Smith
The Cryosphere, 18, 4971–4992, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4971-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4971-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study uses high-resolution remote-sensing data to show that shrinking of the West Antarctic Thwaites Glacier’s ice shelf (floating extension) is exacerbated by several sub-ice-shelf meltwater channels that form as the glacier transitions from full contact with the seafloor to fully floating. In mapping these channels, the position of the transition zone, and thinning rates of the Thwaites Glacier, this work elucidates important processes driving its rapid contribution to sea level rise.
Brad Reed, J. A. Mattias Green, Adrian Jenkins, and G. Hilmar Gudmundsson
The Cryosphere, 18, 4567–4587, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4567-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4567-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We use a numerical ice-flow model to simulate the response of a 1940s Pine Island Glacier to changes in melting beneath its ice shelf. A decadal period of warm forcing is sufficient to push the glacier into an unstable, irreversible retreat from its long-term position on a subglacial ridge to an upstream ice plain. This retreat can only be stopped when unrealistic cold forcing is applied. These results show that short warm anomalies can lead to quick and substantial increases in ice flux.
Tianming Ma, Zhuang Jiang, Minghu Ding, Pengzhen He, Yuansheng Li, Wenqian Zhang, and Lei Geng
The Cryosphere, 18, 4547–4565, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4547-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4547-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We constructed a box model to evaluate the isotope effects of atmosphere–snow water vapor exchange at Dome A, Antarctica. The results show clear and invisible diurnal changes in surface snow isotopes under summer and winter conditions, respectively. The model also predicts that the annual net effects of atmosphere–snow water vapor exchange would be overall enrichments in snow isotopes since the effects in summer appear to be greater than those in winter at the study site.
Robert G. Bingham, Julien A. Bodart, Marie G. P. Cavitte, Ailsa Chung, Rebecca J. Sanderson, Johannes C. R. Sutter, Olaf Eisen, Nanna B. Karlsson, Joseph A. MacGregor, Neil Ross, Duncan A. Young, David W. Ashmore, Andreas Born, Winnie Chu, Xiangbin Cui, Reinhard Drews, Steven Franke, Vikram Goel, John W. Goodge, A. Clara J. Henry, Antoine Hermant, Benjamin H. Hills, Nicholas Holschuh, Michelle R. Koutnik, Gwendolyn J.-M. C. Leysinger Vieli, Emma J. Mackie, Elisa Mantelli, Carlos Martín, Felix S. L. Ng, Falk M. Oraschewski, Felipe Napoleoni, Frédéric Parrenin, Sergey V. Popov, Therese Rieckh, Rebecca Schlegel, Dustin M. Schroeder, Martin J. Siegert, Xueyuan Tang, Thomas O. Teisberg, Kate Winter, Shuai Yan, Harry Davis, Christine F. Dow, Tyler J. Fudge, Tom A. Jordan, Bernd Kulessa, Kenichi Matsuoka, Clara J. Nyqvist, Maryam Rahnemoonfar, Matthew R. Siegfried, Shivangini Singh, Verjan Višnjević, Rodrigo Zamora, and Alexandra Zuhr
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2593, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2593, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The ice sheets covering Antarctica have built up over millenia through successive snowfall events which become buried and preserved as internal surfaces of equal age detectable with ice-penetrating radar. This paper describes an international initiative to work together on this archival data to build a comprehensive 3-D picture of how old the ice is everywhere across Antarctica, and how this will be used to reconstruct past and predict future ice and climate behaviour.
Cari Rand, Richard S. Jones, Andrew N. Mackintosh, Brent Goehring, and Kat Lilly
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2674, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2674, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we determine how recently samples from a mountain in East Antarctica were last covered by the East Antarctic ice sheet. By examining concentrations of carbon-14 in rock samples, we determined that all but the summit of the mountain was buried under glacial ice within the last 15 thousand years. Other methods of estimating past ice thicknesses are not sensitive enough to capture ice cover this recent, so we were previously unaware that ice at this site was thicker at this time.
Ann Kristin Klose, Violaine Coulon, Frank Pattyn, and Ricarda Winkelmann
The Cryosphere, 18, 4463–4492, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4463-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4463-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We systematically assess the long-term sea-level response from Antarctica to warming projected over the next centuries, using two ice-sheet models. We show that this committed Antarctic sea-level contribution is substantially higher than the transient sea-level change projected for the coming decades. A low-emission scenario already poses considerable risk of multi-meter sea-level increase over the next millennia, while additional East Antarctic ice loss unfolds under the high-emission pathway.
Christian Wirths, Thomas F. Stocker, and Johannes C. R. Sutter
The Cryosphere, 18, 4435–4462, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4435-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4435-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We investigated the influence of several regional climate models on the Antarctic Ice Sheet when applied as forcing for the Parallel Ice Sheet Model (PISM). Our study shows that the choice of regional climate model forcing results in uncertainties of around a tenth of those in future sea level rise projections and also affects the extent of grounding line retreat in West Antarctica.
Maria T. Kappelsberger, Martin Horwath, Eric Buchta, Matthias O. Willen, Ludwig Schröder, Sanne B. M. Veldhuijsen, Peter Kuipers Munneke, and Michiel R. van den Broeke
The Cryosphere, 18, 4355–4378, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4355-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4355-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The interannual variations in the height of the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) are mainly due to natural variations in snowfall. Precise knowledge of these variations is important for the detection of any long-term climatic trends in AIS surface elevation. We present a new product that spatially resolves these height variations over the period 1992–2017. The product combines the strengths of atmospheric modeling results and satellite altimetry measurements.
Torsten Albrecht, Meike Bagge, and Volker Klemann
The Cryosphere, 18, 4233–4255, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4233-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4233-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We performed coupled ice sheet–solid Earth simulations and discovered a positive (forebulge) feedback mechanism for advancing grounding lines, supporting a larger West Antarctic Ice Sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum. During deglaciation we found that the stabilizing glacial isostatic adjustment feedback dominates grounding-line retreat in the Ross Sea, with a weak Earth structure. This may have consequences for present and future ice sheet stability and potential rates of sea-level rise.
W. Roger Buck
The Cryosphere, 18, 4165–4176, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4165-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4165-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Standard theory predicts that the edge of an ice shelf should bend downward. Satellite observations show that the edges of many ice shelves bend upward. A new theory for ice shelf bending is developed that, for the first time, includes the kind of vertical variations in ice flow properties expected for ice shelves. Upward bending of shelf edges is predicted as long as the ice surface is very cold and the ice flow properties depend strongly on temperature.
Johannes Feldmann, Anders Levermann, and Ricarda Winkelmann
The Cryosphere, 18, 4011–4028, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4011-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4011-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Here we show in simplified simulations that the (ir)reversibility of the retreat of instability-prone, Antarctica-type glaciers can strongly depend on the depth of the bed depression they rest on. If it is sufficiently deep, then the destabilized glacier does not recover from its collapsed state. Our results suggest that glaciers resting on a wide and deep bed depression, such as Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier, are particularly susceptible to irreversible retreat.
Marissa E. Dattler, Brooke Medley, and C. Max Stevens
The Cryosphere, 18, 3613–3631, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3613-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3613-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We developed an algorithm based on combining models and satellite observations to identify the presence of surface melt on the Antarctic Ice Sheet. We find that this method works similarly to previous methods by assessing 13 sites and the Larsen C ice shelf. Unlike previous methods, this algorithm is based on physical parameters, and updates to this method could allow the meltwater present on the Antarctic Ice Sheet to be quantified instead of simply detected.
Christoph Welling and The RNO-G Collaboration
The Cryosphere, 18, 3433–3437, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3433-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3433-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We report on the measurement of the index of refraction in glacial ice at radio frequencies. We show that radio echoes from within the ice can be associated with specific features of the ice conductivity and use this to determine the wave velocity. This measurement is especially relevant for the Radio Neutrino Observatory Greenland (RNO-G), a neutrino detection experiment currently under construction at Summit Station, Greenland.
Benjamin J. Davison, Anna E. Hogg, Carlos Moffat, Michael P. Meredith, and Benjamin J. Wallis
The Cryosphere, 18, 3237–3251, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3237-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3237-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Using a new dataset of ice motion, we observed glacier acceleration on the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. The speed-up began around January 2021, but some glaciers sped up earlier or later. Using a combination of ship-based ocean temperature observations and climate models, we show that the speed-up coincided with a period of unusually warm air and ocean temperatures in the region.
Floriane Provost, Dimitri Zigone, Emmanuel Le Meur, Jean-Philippe Malet, and Clément Hibert
The Cryosphere, 18, 3067–3079, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3067-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3067-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The recent calving of Astrolabe Glacier in November 2021 presents an opportunity to better understand the processes leading to ice fracturing. Optical-satellite imagery is used to retrieve the calving cycle of the glacier ice tongue and to measure the ice velocity and strain rates in order to document fracture evolution. We observed that the presence of sea ice for consecutive years has favoured the glacier extension but failed to inhibit the growth of fractures that accelerated in June 2021.
Cristina Gerli, Sebastian Rosier, G. Hilmar Gudmundsson, and Sainan Sun
The Cryosphere, 18, 2677–2689, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2677-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2677-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Recent efforts have focused on using AI and satellite imagery to track crevasses for assessing ice shelf damage and informing ice flow models. Our study reveals a weak connection between these observed products and damage maps inferred from ice flow models. While there is some improvement in crevasse-dense regions, this association remains limited. Directly mapping ice damage from satellite observations may not significantly improve the representation of these processes within ice flow models.
Charlotte M. Carter, Michael J. Bentley, Stewart S. R. Jamieson, Guy J. G. Paxman, Tom A. Jordan, Julien A. Bodart, Neil Ross, and Felipe Napoleoni
The Cryosphere, 18, 2277–2296, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2277-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2277-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We use radio-echo sounding data to investigate the presence of flat surfaces beneath the Evans–Rutford region in West Antarctica. These surfaces may be what remains of laterally continuous surfaces, formed before the inception of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, and we assess two hypotheses for their formation. Tectonic structures in the region may have also had a control on the growth of the ice sheet by focusing ice flow into troughs adjoining these surfaces.
Rebecca B. Latto, Ross J. Turner, Anya M. Reading, and J. Paul Winberry
The Cryosphere, 18, 2061–2079, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2061-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2061-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The study of icequakes allows for investigation of many glacier processes that are unseen by typical reconnaissance methods. However, detection of such seismic signals is challenging due to low signal-to-noise levels and diverse source mechanisms. Here we present a novel algorithm that is optimized to detect signals from a glacier environment. We apply the algorithm to seismic data recorded in the 2010–2011 austral summer from the Whillans Ice Stream and evaluate the resulting event catalogue.
Rebecca B. Latto, Ross J. Turner, Anya M. Reading, Sue Cook, Bernd Kulessa, and J. Paul Winberry
The Cryosphere, 18, 2081–2101, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2081-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2081-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Seismic catalogues are potentially rich sources of information on glacier processes. In a companion study, we constructed an event catalogue for seismic data from the Whillans Ice Stream. Here, we provide a semi-automated workflow for consistent catalogue analysis using an unsupervised cluster analysis. We discuss the defining characteristics of identified signal types found in this catalogue and possible mechanisms for the underlying glacier processes and noise sources.
Jan De Rydt and Kaitlin Naughten
The Cryosphere, 18, 1863–1888, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1863-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1863-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is losing ice at an accelerating pace. This is largely due to the presence of warm ocean water around the periphery of the Antarctic continent, which melts the ice. It is generally assumed that the strength of this process is controlled by the temperature of the ocean. However, in this study we show that an equally important role is played by the changing geometry of the ice sheet, which affects the strength of the ocean currents and thereby the melt rates.
Edmund J. Lea, Stewart S. R. Jamieson, and Michael J. Bentley
The Cryosphere, 18, 1733–1751, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1733-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1733-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We use the ice surface expression of the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains in East Antarctica to map the horizontal pattern of valleys and ridges in finer detail than possible from previous methods. In upland areas, valleys are spaced much less than 5 km apart, with consequences for the distribution of melting at the bed and hence the likelihood of ancient ice being preserved. Automated mapping techniques were tested alongside manual approaches, with a hybrid approach recommended for future work.
In-Woo Park, Emilia Kyung Jin, Mathieu Morlighem, and Kang-Kun Lee
The Cryosphere, 18, 1139–1155, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1139-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1139-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study conducted 3D thermodynamic ice sheet model experiments, and modeled temperatures were compared with 15 observed borehole temperature profiles. We found that using incompressibility of ice without sliding agrees well with observed temperature profiles in slow-flow regions, while incorporating sliding in fast-flow regions captures observed temperature profiles. Also, the choice of vertical velocity scheme has a greater impact on the shape of the modeled temperature profile.
Matthew A. Danielson and Philip J. Bart
The Cryosphere, 18, 1125–1138, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1125-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1125-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The post-Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet in the Ross Sea was more significant than for any other Antarctic sector. Here we combined the available dates of retreat with new mapping of sediment deposited by the ice sheet during overall retreat. Our work shows that the post-LGM retreat through the Ross Sea was not uniform. This uneven retreat can cause instability in the present-day Antarctic ice sheet configuration and lead to future runaway retreat.
Trystan Surawy-Stepney, Anna E. Hogg, Stephen L. Cornford, Benjamin J. Wallis, Benjamin J. Davison, Heather L. Selley, Ross A. W. Slater, Elise K. Lie, Livia Jakob, Andrew Ridout, Noel Gourmelen, Bryony I. D. Freer, Sally F. Wilson, and Andrew Shepherd
The Cryosphere, 18, 977–993, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-977-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-977-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Here, we use satellite observations and an ice flow model to quantify the impact of sea ice buttressing on ice streams on the Antarctic Peninsula. The evacuation of 11-year-old landfast sea ice in the Larsen B embayment on the East Antarctic Peninsula in January 2022 was closely followed by major changes in the calving behaviour and acceleration (30 %) of the ocean-terminating glaciers. Our results show that sea ice buttressing had a negligible direct role in the observed dynamic changes.
Andrew N. Hennig, David A. Mucciarone, Stanley S. Jacobs, Richard A. Mortlock, and Robert B. Dunbar
The Cryosphere, 18, 791–818, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-791-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-791-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
A total of 937 seawater paired oxygen isotope (δ18O)–salinity samples collected during seven cruises on the SE Amundsen Sea between 1994 and 2020 reveal a deep freshwater source with δ18O − 29.4±1.0‰, consistent with the signature of local ice shelf melt. Local mean meteoric water content – comprised primarily of glacial meltwater – increased between 1994 and 2020 but exhibited greater interannual variability than increasing trend.
Qinggang Gao, Louise C. Sime, Alison J. McLaren, Thomas J. Bracegirdle, Emilie Capron, Rachael H. Rhodes, Hans Christian Steen-Larsen, Xiaoxu Shi, and Martin Werner
The Cryosphere, 18, 683–703, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-683-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-683-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Antarctic precipitation is a crucial component of the climate system. Its spatio-temporal variability impacts sea level changes and the interpretation of water isotope measurements in ice cores. To better understand its climatic drivers, we developed water tracers in an atmospheric model to identify moisture source conditions from which precipitation originates. We find that mid-latitude surface winds exert an important control on moisture availability for Antarctic precipitation.
Cited articles
Ackert, R. P., Barclay, D. J., Borns, H. W., Calkin, P. E., Kurz, M. D.,
Fastook, J. L., and Steig, E. J.: Measurements of past ice sheet elevations
in interior West Antarctica, Science, 286, 276–280,
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.286.5438.276, 1999. a
Ackert, R. P., Mukhopadhyay, S., Parizek, B. R., and Borns, H. W.: Ice
elevation near the West Antarctic Ice Sheet divide during the Last
Glaciation, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, GL031412,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GL031412, 2007. a
Agosta, C., Amory, C., Kittel, C., Orsi, A., Favier, V., Gallée, H., van den Broeke, M. R., Lenaerts, J. T. M., van Wessem, J. M., van de Berg, W. J., and Fettweis, X.: Estimation of the Antarctic surface mass balance using the regional climate model MAR (1979–2015) and identification of dominant processes, The Cryosphere, 13, 281–296, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-281-2019, 2019. a
Åkesson, H., Morlighem, M., Nisancioglu, K. H., Svendsen, J. I., and
Mangerud, J.: Atmosphere-driven ice sheet mass loss paced by topography:
Insights from modelling the south-western Scandinavian Ice Sheet, Quaternary
Sci. Rev., 195, 32–47,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.07.004, 2018. a
Albrecht, T., Winkelmann, R., and Levermann, A.: Glacial-cycle simulations of the Antarctic Ice Sheet with the Parallel Ice Sheet Model (PISM) – Part 2: Parameter ensemble analysis, The Cryosphere, 14, 633–656, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-633-2020, 2020. a, b
Alder, J. R. and Hostetler, S. W.: Applying the Community Ice Sheet Model to
evaluate PMIP3 LGM climatologies over the North American ice sheets, Clim.
Dynam., 53, 2807–2824, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-019-04663-x,
2019. a
Altnau, S., Schlosser, E., Isaksson, E., and Divine, D.: Climatic signals from 76 shallow firn cores in Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica, The Cryosphere, 9, 925–944, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-925-2015, 2015. a
Andersen, J. L., Newall, J. C., Blomdin, R., Sams, S. E., Fabel, D., Koester,
A. J., Lifton, N. A., Fredin, O., Caffee, M. W., Glasser, N. F., Rogozhina,
I., Suganuma, Y., Harbor, J. M., and Stroeven, A. P.: Ice surface changes
during recent glacial cycles along the Jutulstraumen and Penck Trough ice
streams in western Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica, Quaternary Sci.
Rev., 249, 106636, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106636, 2020. a, b, c, d
Bentley, M. J., Ó Cofaigh, C., Anderson, J. B., Conway, H., Davies, B.,
Graham, A. G., Hillenbrand, C.-D., Hodgson, D. A., Jamieson, S. S., Larter,
R. D., Mackintosh, A., Smith, J. A., Verleyen, E., Ackert, R. P., Bart,
P. J., Berg, S., Brunstein, D., Canals, M., Colhoun, E. A., Crosta, X.,
Dickens, W. A., Domack, E., Dowdeswell, J. A., Dunbar, R., Ehrmann, W.,
Evans, J., Favier, V., Fink, D., Fogwill, C. J., Glasser, N. F., Gohl, K.,
Golledge, N. R., Goodwin, I., Gore, D. B., Greenwood, S. L., Hall, B. L.,
Hall, K., Hedding, D. W., Hein, A. S., Hocking, E. P., Jakobsson, M.,
Johnson, J. S., Jomelli, V., Jones, R. S., Klages, J. P., Kristoffersen, Y.,
Kuhn, G., Leventer, A., Licht, K., Lilly, K., Lindow, J., Livingstone, S. J.,
Massé, G., McGlone, M. S., McKay, R. M., Melles, M., Miura, H., Mulvaney,
R., Nel, W., Nitsche, F. O., O'Brien, P. E., Post, A. L., Roberts, S. J.,
Saunders, K. M., Selkirk, P. M., Simms, A. R., Spiegel, C., Stolldorf, T. D.,
Sugden, D. E., van der Putten, N., van Ommen, T., Verfaillie, D.,
Vyverman, W., Wagner, B., White, D. A., Witus, A. E., and Zwartz, D.: A
community-based geological reconstruction of Antarctic Ice Sheet deglaciation
since the Last Glacial Maximum, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 100, 1–9,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.06.025, 2014. a
Berends, C. J., Goelzer, H., and van de Wal, R. S. W.: The Utrecht Finite Volume Ice-Sheet Model: UFEMISM (version 1.0), Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 2443–2470, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-2443-2021, 2021. a
Briggs, R. D., Pollard, D., and Tarasov, L.: A data-constrained large ensemble
analysis of Antarctic evolution since the Eemian, Quaternary Sci. Rev.,
103, 91–115, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.09.003, 2014. a
Burton-Johnson, A., Black, M., Fretwell, P. T., and Kaluza-Gilbert, J.: An automated methodology for differentiating rock from snow, clouds and sea in Antarctica from Landsat 8 imagery: a new rock outcrop map and area estimation for the entire Antarctic continent, The Cryosphere, 10, 1665–1677, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1665-2016, 2016. a
Cornford, S. L., Seroussi, H., Asay-Davis, X. S., Gudmundsson, G. H., Arthern, R., Borstad, C., Christmann, J., Dias dos Santos, T., Feldmann, J., Goldberg, D., Hoffman, M. J., Humbert, A., Kleiner, T., Leguy, G., Lipscomb, W. H., Merino, N., Durand, G., Morlighem, M., Pollard, D., Rückamp, M., Williams, C. R., and Yu, H.: Results of the third Marine Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project (MISMIP+), The Cryosphere, 14, 2283–2301, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2283-2020, 2020. a
Cuzzone, J. K., Schlegel, N.-J., Morlighem, M., Larour, E., Briner, J. P., Seroussi, H., and Caron, L.: The impact of model resolution on the simulated Holocene retreat of the southwestern Greenland ice sheet using the Ice Sheet System Model (ISSM), The Cryosphere, 13, 879–893, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-879-2019, 2019. a, b
De Boer, B., Lourens, L. J., and Van De Wal, R. S. W.: Persistent 400,000-year
variability of Antarctic ice volume and the carbon cycle is revealed
throughout the Plio-Pleistocene, Nat. Commun., 5, 1–8,
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms3999, 2014. a
Durand, G., Gagliardini, O., de Fleurian, B., Zwinger, T., and Le Meur, E.:
Marine ice sheet dynamics: Hysteresis and neutral equilibrium, J.
Geophys. Res.-Earth, 114, F03009,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JF001170, 2009. a
Durand, G., Gagliardini, O., Favier, L., Zwinger, T., and le Meur, E.: Impact
of bedrock description on modeling ice sheet dynamics, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L20501, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011GL048892, 2011. a, b
Favier, L., Pattyn, F., Berger, S., and Drews, R.: Dynamic influence of pinning points on marine ice-sheet stability: a numerical study in Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica, The Cryosphere, 10, 2623–2635, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2623-2016, 2016. a
Fogwill, C. J., Turney, C. S. M., Golledge, N. R., Rood, D. H., Hippe, K.,
Wacker, L., Wieler, R., Rainsley, E. B., and Jones, R. S.: Drivers of abrupt
Holocene shifts in West Antarctic ice stream direction determined from
combined ice sheet modelling and geologic signatures, Antarct. Sci., 26,
674–686, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102014000613, 2014. a
Fowler, A. C. and Larson, D. A.: On the flow of polythermal glaciers – I. Model
and preliminary analysis, P. Roy. Soc. Lond. A
Mat., 363, 217–242,
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.1978.0165, 1978. a
Frank, T., Åkesson, H., de Fleurian, B., Morlighem, M., and Nisancioglu, K. H.: Geometric Controls of Tidewater Glacier Dynamics, The Cryosphere Discuss. [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2021-81, in review, 2021. a
Garbe, J., Albrecht, T., Levermann, A., Donges, J. F., and Winkelmann, R.:
Hysteresis of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, Nature, 585, 538–544,
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2727-5, 2020. a
Gladstone, R. M., Warner, R. C., Galton-Fenzi, B. K., Gagliardini, O., Zwinger, T., and Greve, R.: Marine ice sheet model performance depends on basal sliding physics and sub-shelf melting, The Cryosphere, 11, 319–329, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-319-2017, 2017. a, b
Goelzer, H., Nowicki, S., Payne, A., Larour, E., Seroussi, H., Lipscomb, W. H., Gregory, J., Abe-Ouchi, A., Shepherd, A., Simon, E., Agosta, C., Alexander, P., Aschwanden, A., Barthel, A., Calov, R., Chambers, C., Choi, Y., Cuzzone, J., Dumas, C., Edwards, T., Felikson, D., Fettweis, X., Golledge, N. R., Greve, R., Humbert, A., Huybrechts, P., Le clec'h, S., Lee, V., Leguy, G., Little, C., Lowry, D. P., Morlighem, M., Nias, I., Quiquet, A., Rückamp, M., Schlegel, N.-J., Slater, D. A., Smith, R. S., Straneo, F., Tarasov, L., van de Wal, R., and van den Broeke, M.: The future sea-level contribution of the Greenland ice sheet: a multi-model ensemble study of ISMIP6, The Cryosphere, 14, 3071–3096, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3071-2020, 2020. a
Golledge, N. R., Fogwill, C. J., Mackintosh, A. N., and Buckley, K. M.:
Dynamics of the last glacial maximum Antarctic ice-sheet and its response
to ocean forcing, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 109,
16052–16056, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1205385109, 2012. a, b
Golledge, N. R., Menviel, L., Carter, L., Fogwill, C. J., England, M. H.,
Cortese, G., and Levy, R. H.: Antarctic contribution to meltwater pulse 1A
from reduced Southern Ocean overturning, Nat. Commun., 5, 1–10,
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms6107, 2014. a
Gomez, N., Weber, M. E., Clark, P. U., Mitrovica, J. X., and Han, H. K.:
Antarctic ice dynamics amplified by Northern Hemisphere sea-level forcing,
Nature, 587, 600–604, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2916-2, 2020. a, b
Gosse, J. C. and Phillips, F. M.: Terrestrial in situ cosmogenic nuclides:
theory and application, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 20, 1475–1560,
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-3791(00)00171-2, 2001. a, b
Gudmundsson, G. H., Krug, J., Durand, G., Favier, L., and Gagliardini, O.: The stability of grounding lines on retrograde slopes, The Cryosphere, 6, 1497–1505, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-6-1497-2012, 2012. a, b
Gudmundsson, G. H., Paolo, F. S., Adusumilli, S., and Fricker, H. A.:
Instantaneous Antarctic ice sheet mass loss driven by thinning ice shelves,
Geophys. Res. Lett., 46, 13903–13909,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL085027, 2019. a
Gudmundsson, H.: GHilmarG/UaSource: Ua2019b, Zenodo [code], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3706624,
2020. a, b
Hindmarsh, R. C. A.: A numerical comparison of approximations to the Stokes
equations used in ice sheet and glacier modeling, J. Geophys.
Res.-Earth, 109, F01012, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JF000065,
2004. a
Howat, I. M., Negrete, A., and Smith, B. E.: The Greenland Ice Mapping Project (GIMP) land classification and surface elevation data sets, The Cryosphere, 8, 1509–1518, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1509-2014, 2014. a
Howat, I. M., Porter, C., Smith, B. E., Noh, M.-J., and Morin, P.: The Reference Elevation Model of Antarctica, The Cryosphere, 13, 665–674, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-665-2019, 2019. a, b
Ito, K. and Kunisch, K.: Lagrange multiplier approach to variational problems
and applications, SIAM, Philadelphia, 2008. a
Ivins, E. R. and James, T. S.: Antarctic glacial isostatic adjustment: a new
assessment, Antarct. Sci., 17, 541–553,
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102005002968, 2005. a
Jamieson, S. S. R., Vieli, A., Livingstone, S. J., Cofaigh, C. Ó., Stokes,
C., Hillenbrand, C.-D., and Dowdeswell, J. A.: Ice-stream stability on a
reverse bed slope, Nat. Geosci., 5, 799–802,
https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1600, 2012. a
Jamieson, S. S. R., Vieli, A., Cofaigh, C. Ó., Stokes, C. R., Livingstone,
S. J., and Hillenbrand, C.-D.: Understanding controls on rapid ice-stream
retreat during the last deglaciation of Marguerite Bay, Antarctica, using a
numerical model, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 119,
247–263, https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JF002934, 2014. a, b
Jarosch, A. H., Schoof, C. G., and Anslow, F. S.: Restoring mass conservation to shallow ice flow models over complex terrain, The Cryosphere, 7, 229–240, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-229-2013, 2013. a
Johnson, J. S., Bentley, M. J., and Gohl, K.: First exposure ages from the
Amundsen Sea Embayment, West Antarctica: The Late Quaternary context for
recent thinning of Pine Island, Smith, and Pope Glaciers, Geology, 36,
223–226, https://doi.org/10.1130/G24207A.1, 2008. a
Johnson, J. S., Pollard, D., Whitehouse, P. L., Roberts, S. J., Rood, D. H.,
and Schaefer, J. M.: Comparing Glacial-Geological Evidence and Model
Simulations of Ice Sheet Change since the Last Glacial Period in the Amundsen
Sea Sector of Antarctica, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth,
126, e2020JF005827, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JF005827,
2021. a, b, c
Jones, R., Whitehouse, P., Bentley, M., Small, D., and Dalton, A.: Impact of
glacial isostatic adjustment on cosmogenic surface-exposure dating,
Quaternary Sci. Rev., 212, 206–212,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.03.012, 2019. a
Jones, R. S., Mackintosh, A. N., Norton, K. P., Golledge, N. R., Fogwill,
C. J., Kubik, P. W., Christl, M., and Greenwood, S. L.: Rapid Holocene
thinning of an East Antarctic outlet glacier driven by marine ice sheet
instability, Nat. Commun., 6, 8910,
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9910, 2015. a
Jones, R. S., Norton, K. P., Mackintosh, A. N., Anderson, J. T. H., Kubik, P.,
Vockenhuber, C., Wittmann, H., Fink, D., Wilson, G. S., Golledge, N. R., and
McKay, R.: Cosmogenic nuclides constrain surface fluctuations of an East
Antarctic outlet glacier since the Pliocene, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 480, 75–86, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.09.014, 2017. a
Jones, R. S., Whitmore, R., Mackintosh, A. N., Norton, K. P., Eaves, S. R.,
Stutz, J., and Christl, M.: Regional-scale abrupt Mid-Holocene ice sheet
thinning in the western Ross Sea, Antarctica, Geology, 49, 278–282,
https://doi.org/10.1130/G48347.1, 2020. a
Jones, R. S., Gudmundsson, G. H., Mackintosh, A. N., McCormack, F. S., and
Whitmore, R. J.: Ocean-Driven and Topography-Controlled Nonlinear Glacier
Retreat During the Holocene: Southwestern Ross Sea, Antarctica, Geophys. Res. Lett., 48, e2020GL091454,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL091454, 2021. a, b
Jouzel, J., Masson-Delmotte, V., Cattani, O., Dreyfus, G., Falourd, S.,
Hoffmann, G., Minster, B., Nouet, J., Barnola, J. M., Chappellaz, J.,
Fischer, H., Gallet, J. C., Johnsen, S., Leuenberger, M., Loulergue, L.,
Luethi, D., Oerter, H., Parrenin, F., Raisbeck, G., Raynaud, D., Schilt, A.,
Schwander, J., Selmo, E., Souchez, R., Spahni, R., Stauffer, B., Steffensen,
J. P., Stenni, B., Stocker, T. F., Tison, J. L., Werner, M., and Wolff,
E. W.: Orbital and Millennial Antarctic Climate Variability over the Past
800,000 Years, Science, 317, 793–796, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1141038, 2007. a
Kawamata, M., Suganuma, Y., Doi, K., Misawa, K., Hirabayashi, M., Hattori, A.,
and Sawagaki, T.: Abrupt Holocene ice-sheet thinning along the southern Soya
Coast, Lützow-Holm Bay, East Antarctica, revealed by glacial geomorphology
and surface exposure dating, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 247, 106540,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106540, 2020. a
King, M. D., Howat, I. M., Candela, S. G., Noh, M. J., Jeong, S., Noël, B.
P. Y., van den Broeke, M. R., Wouters, B., and Negrete, A.: Dynamic ice loss
from the Greenland Ice Sheet driven by sustained glacier retreat,
Communications Earth & Environment, 1, 1–7,
https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-020-0001-2, 2020. a
Kingslake, J., Scherer, R. P., Albrecht, T., Coenen, J., Powell, R. D., Reese,
R., Stansell, N., Tulaczyk, S., Wearing, M. G., and Whitehouse, P. L.:
Extensive retreat and re-advance of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet during the
Holocene, Nature, 558, 430–434,
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0208-x, 2018. a
Kjeldsen, K. K., Korsgaard, N. J., Bjørk, A. A., Khan, S. A., Box, J. E.,
Funder, S., Larsen, N. K., Bamber, J. L., Colgan, W., Van Den Broeke, M.,
Siggaard-Andersen, M.-L., Nuth, C., Schomacker, A., Andresen, C. S.,
Willerslev, E., and Kjær, K. H.: Spatial and temporal distribution of mass
loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet since AD 1900, Nature, 528, 396–400,
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature16183, 2015. a
Kreuzer, M., Reese, R., Huiskamp, W. N., Petri, S., Albrecht, T., Feulner, G., and Winkelmann, R.: Coupling framework (1.0) for the PISM (1.1.4) ice sheet model and the MOM5 (5.1.0) ocean model via the PICO ice shelf cavity model in an Antarctic domain, Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 3697–3714, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-3697-2021, 2021. a
Lilly, K., Fink, D., Fabel, D., and Lambeck, K.: Pleistocene dynamics of the
interior East Antarctic ice sheet, Geology, 38, 703–706,
https://doi.org/10.1130/G31172x.1, 2010. a
Lisiecki, L. E. and Raymo, M. E.: A Pliocene-Pleistocene stack of 57 globally
distributed benthic δ18O records, Paleoceanography, 20, PA1003,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2004PA001071, 2005. a
Lowry, D. P., Golledge, N. R., Bertler, N. A., Jones, R. S., McKay, R., and
Stutz, J.: Geologic controls on ice sheet sensitivity to deglacial climate
forcing in the Ross Embayment, Antarctica, Quaternary Science Advances, 1,
100002, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.qsa.2020.100002, 2020. a
Mas e Braga, M.: Model configuration files for Mas e Braga et al. (2021), “Nunataks as barriers to ice flow: implications for palaeo ice sheet reconstructions”, Zenodo [code], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5583987, 2021. a
Mas e Braga, M., Bernales, J., Prange, M., Stroeven, A. P., and Rogozhina, I.: Sensitivity of the Antarctic ice sheets to the warming of marine isotope substage 11c, The Cryosphere, 15, 459–478, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-459-2021, 2021. a
Miles, B. W. J., Jordan, J. R., Stokes, C. R., Jamieson, S. S. R., Gudmundsson, G. H., and Jenkins, A.: Recent acceleration of Denman Glacier (1972–2017), East Antarctica, driven by grounding line retreat and changes in ice tongue configuration, The Cryosphere, 15, 663–676, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-663-2021, 2021. a
Minchew, B. M., Meyer, C. R., Robel, A. A., Gudmundsson, G. H., and Simons, M.:
Processes controlling the downstream evolution of ice rheology in glacier
shear margins: case study on Rutford Ice Stream, West Antarctica, J.
Glaciol., 64, 583–594, https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2018.47, 2018. a
Morlighem, M., Rignot, E., Binder, T., Blankenship, D., Drews, R., Eagles, G.,
Eisen, O., Ferraccioli, F., Forsberg, R., Fretwell, P., Goel, V., Greenbaum,
J. S., Gudmundsson, H., Guo, J., Helm, V., Hofstede, C., Howat, I., Humbert,
A., Jokat, W., Karlsson, N. B., Lee, W. S., Matsuoka, K., Millan, R.,
Mouginot, J., Paden, J., Pattyn, F., Roberts, J., Rosier, S., Ruppel, A.,
Seroussi, H., Smith, E. C., Steinhage, D., Sun, B., van den Broeke, M. R.,
van Ommen, T. D., van Wessem, M., and Young, D. A.: Deep glacial troughs and
stabilizing ridges unveiled beneath the margins of the Antarctic ice sheet,
Nat. Geosci., 13, 132–137,
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0510-8, 2020. a, b, c, d
Mouginot, J., Scheuchl, B., and Rignot, E.: Mapping of ice motion in
Antarctica using synthetic-aperture radar data, Remote Sensing, 4,
2753–2767, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs4092753, 2012. a, b
Niu, L., Lohmann, G., Hinck, S., Gowan, E. J., and Krebs-Kanzow, U.: The
sensitivity of Northern Hemisphere ice sheets to atmospheric forcing during
the last glacial cycle using PMIP3 models, J. Glaciol., 65,
645–661, https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2019.42, 2019. a
Oppenheimer, M., Glavovic, B., Hinkel, J., van de Wal, R. S. W., Magnan, A. K.,
Abd-Elgawad, A., Cai, R., Cifuentes-Jara, M., Deconto, R. M., Ghosh, T., Hay,
J., Isla, F., Marzeion, B., Meyssignac, B., and Sebesvari, Z.: Sea level rise
and implications for low lying islands, coasts and communities, in: IPCC
Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, edited by
Pörtner, H.-O., Roberts, D. C., Masson-Delmotte, V., Zhai, P., Tignor, M.,
Poloczanska, E., Mintenbeck, K., Alegría, A. ad Nicolai, M., Okem, A.,
Petzold, J., Rama, B., and Weyer, N. M., The Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change, available at: http://hdl.handle.net/11554/9280 (last access: 11 December 2020), 2019. a
Patton, H., Hubbard, A., Andreassen, K., Auriac, A., Whitehouse, P. L.,
Stroeven, A. P., Shackleton, C., Winsborrow, M., Heyman, J., and Hall, A. M.:
Deglaciation of the Eurasian ice sheet complex, Quaternary Sci. Rev.,
169, 148–172, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2017.05.019, 2017. a
Pattyn, F. and Morlighem, M.: The uncertain future of the Antarctic Ice Sheet,
Science, 367, 1331–1335, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaz5487, 2020. a
Paxman, G. J. G., Gasson, E. G. W., Jamieson, S. S. R., Bentley, M. J., and
Ferraccioli, F.: Long-Term Increase in Antarctic Ice Sheet Vulnerability
Driven by Bed Topography Evolution, Geophys. Res. Lett., 47,
e2020GL090003, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL090003, 2020. a
Pollard, D. and DeConto, R. M.: Modelling West Antarctic ice sheet growth and
collapse through the past five million years, Nature, 458, 329–332,
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07809, 2009. a
Pritchard, H. D., Arthern, R. J., Vaughan, D. G., and Edwards, L. A.: Extensive
dynamic thinning on the margins of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets,
Nature, 461, 971–975, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08471, 2009. a
Reese, R., Albrecht, T., Mengel, M., Asay-Davis, X., and Winkelmann, R.: Antarctic sub-shelf melt rates via PICO, The Cryosphere, 12, 1969–1985, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1969-2018, 2018. a
Robel, A. A., Schoof, C., and Tziperman, E.: Persistence and variability of ice-stream grounding lines on retrograde bed slopes, The Cryosphere, 10, 1883–1896, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1883-2016, 2016. a
Robel, A. A., Pegler, S. S., Catania, G., Felikson, D., and Simkins, L. M.:
Ambiguous stability of glaciers at bed peaks, J. Glaciol., in review, 2021. a
Schannwell, C., Drews, R., Ehlers, T. A., Eisen, O., Mayer, C., Malinen, M., Smith, E. C., and Eisermann, H.: Quantifying the effect of ocean bed properties on ice sheet geometry over 40 000 years with a full-Stokes model, The Cryosphere, 14, 3917–3934, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3917-2020, 2020. a
Seguinot, J., Khroulev, C., Rogozhina, I., Stroeven, A. P., and Zhang, Q.: The effect of climate forcing on numerical simulations of the Cordilleran ice sheet at the Last Glacial Maximum, The Cryosphere, 8, 1087–1103, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1087-2014, 2014. a
Seguinot, J., Rogozhina, I., Stroeven, A. P., Margold, M., and Kleman, J.: Numerical simulations of the Cordilleran ice sheet through the last glacial cycle, The Cryosphere, 10, 639–664, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-639-2016, 2016. a
Seroussi, H. and Morlighem, M.: Representation of basal melting at the grounding line in ice flow models, The Cryosphere, 12, 3085–3096, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3085-2018, 2018. a
Seroussi, H., Nowicki, S., Payne, A. J., Goelzer, H., Lipscomb, W. H., Abe-Ouchi, A., Agosta, C., Albrecht, T., Asay-Davis, X., Barthel, A., Calov, R., Cullather, R., Dumas, C., Galton-Fenzi, B. K., Gladstone, R., Golledge, N. R., Gregory, J. M., Greve, R., Hattermann, T., Hoffman, M. J., Humbert, A., Huybrechts, P., Jourdain, N. C., Kleiner, T., Larour, E., Leguy, G. R., Lowry, D. P., Little, C. M., Morlighem, M., Pattyn, F., Pelle, T., Price, S. F., Quiquet, A., Reese, R., Schlegel, N.-J., Shepherd, A., Simon, E., Smith, R. S., Straneo, F., Sun, S., Trusel, L. D., Van Breedam, J., van de Wal, R. S. W., Winkelmann, R., Zhao, C., Zhang, T., and Zwinger, T.: ISMIP6 Antarctica: a multi-model ensemble of the Antarctic ice sheet evolution over the 21st century, The Cryosphere, 14, 3033–3070, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3033-2020, 2020. a
Siegert, M. J., Taylor, J., and Payne, A. J.: Spectral roughness of subglacial
topography and implications for former ice-sheet dynamics in East Antarctica,
Global Planet. Change, 45, 249–263,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2004.09.008, 2005. a
Spector, P., Stone, J., and Goehring, B.: Thickness of the divide and flank of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet through the last deglaciation, The Cryosphere, 13, 3061–3075, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-3061-2019, 2019. a, b
Stutz, J., Mackintosh, A., Norton, K., Whitmore, R., Baroni, C., Jamieson, S. S. R., Jones, R. S., Balco, G., Salvatore, M. C., Casale, S., Lee, J. I., Seong, Y. B., Rhee, H. H., McKay, R., Vargo, L. J., Lowry, D., Spector, P., Cristl, M., Ivy Ochs, S., Di Nicola, L., Iarossi, M., Stuart, F., and Woodruff, T.: Mid-Holocene thinning of David Glacier, Antarctica: Chronology and Controls, The Cryosphere Discuss. [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2020-284, in review, 2020. a, b
Suganuma, Y., Miura, H., Zondervan, A., and Okuno, J.: East Antarctic
deglaciation and the link to global cooling during the Quaternary: Evidence
from glacial geomorphology and 10Be surface exposure dating of the Sør
Rondane Mountains, Dronning Maud Land, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 97,
102–120, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.05.007, 2014. a, b, c
Sun, S., Cornford, S. L., Liu, Y., and Moore, J. C.: Dynamic response of Antarctic ice shelves to bedrock uncertainty, The Cryosphere, 8, 1561–1576, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1561-2014, 2014. a
Tigchelaar, M., Timmermann, A., Pollard, D., Friedrich, T., and Heinemann, M.:
Local insolation changes enhance Antarctic interglacials: Insights from an
800,000-year ice sheet simulation with transient climate forcing, Earth
Planet. Sc. Lett., 495, 69–78,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2018.05.004, 2018. a
Weertman, J.: On the Sliding of Glaciers, J. Glaciol., 3, 33–38,
https://doi.org/10.3189/S0022143000024709, 1957. a
Whitehouse, P. L., Bentley, M. J., and Le Brocq, A. M.: A deglacial model for
Antarctica: geological constraints and glaciological modelling as a basis
for a new model of Antarctic glacial isostatic adjustment, Quaternary Sci.
Rev., 32, 1–24, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2011.11.016,
2012. a, b
Whitehouse, P. L., Gomez, N., King, M. A., and Wiens, D. A.: Solid Earth change
and the evolution of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, Nat. Commun., 10,
1–14, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-08068-y, 2019. a
Wirbel, A. and Jarosch, A. H.: Inequality-constrained free-surface evolution in a full Stokes ice flow model (evolve_glacier v1.1), Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 6425–6445, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-6425-2020, 2020. a
Wood, J.: The geomorphological characterisation of digital elevation models.,
PhD thesis, University of Leicester, Leicester,
available at: http://hdl.handle.net/2381/34503 (last access: 16 March 2021), 1996. a
Short summary
Mountains higher than the ice surface are sampled to know when the ice reached the sampled elevation, which can be used to guide numerical models. This is important to understand how much ice will be lost by ice sheets in the future. We use a simple model to understand how ice flow around mountains affects the ice surface topography and show how much this influences results from field samples. We also show that models need a finer resolution over mountainous areas to better match field samples.
Mountains higher than the ice surface are sampled to know when the ice reached the sampled...
