Articles | Volume 16, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-397-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-397-2022
Research article
 | 
03 Feb 2022
Research article |  | 03 Feb 2022

Weakening of the pinning point buttressing Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica

Christian T. Wild, Karen E. Alley, Atsuhiro Muto, Martin Truffer, Ted A. Scambos, and Erin C. Pettit

Related authors

Distributed optical fibre sensing in physical oceanography: Emergence and future prospects
Alberto C. Naveira Garabato, Carl P. Spingys, Andrew J. Lucas, Tiago S. Dotto, Christian T. Wild, Scott W. Tyler, Ted A. Scambos, Christopher B. Kratt, Ethan F. Williams, Mariona Claret, Hannah E. Glover, Meagan E. Wengrove, Madison M. Smith, Michael G. Baker, Giuseppe Marra, Max Tamussino, Zitong Feng, David Lloyd, Liam Taylor, Mikael Mazur, Maria-Daphne Mangriotis, Aaron Micallef, Jennifer Ward Neale, Oleg A. Godin, Matthew H. Alford, Emma P. M. Gregory, Michael A. Clare, Angel Ruiz Angulo, Kathryn L. Gunn, Ben I. Moat, Isobel A. Yeo, Alessandro Silvano, Arthur Hartog, and Mohammad Belal
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3624,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3624, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Ocean Science (OS).
Short summary
Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf Cavity Observations Reveal Multi-year Sea Ice Dynamics and Deep-Water Warming in Pine Island Bay, West Antarctica
Christian T. Wild, Tasha Snow, Tiago S. Dotto, Peter E. D. Davis, Scott Tyler, Ted A. Scambos, Erin C. Pettit, and Karen J. Heywood
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1675,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1675, 2025
Short summary
Monitoring Shear-Zone Weakening in East Antarctic Outlet Glaciers through Differential InSAR Measurements
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
Tidal influence on flow dynamics of Dotson Ice Shelf, West Antarctica
Gabriela Collao-Barrios, Ted A. Scambos, Christian T. Wild, Martin Truffer, Karen E. Alley, and Erin C. Pettit
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1895,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1895, 2024
Preprint archived
Short summary
Two decades of dynamic change and progressive destabilization on the Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf
Karen E. Alley, Christian T. Wild, Adrian Luckman, Ted A. Scambos, Martin Truffer, Erin C. Pettit, Atsuhiro Muto, Bruce Wallin, Marin Klinger, Tyler Sutterley, Sarah F. Child, Cyrus Hulen, Jan T. M. Lenaerts, Michelle Maclennan, Eric Keenan, and Devon Dunmire
The Cryosphere, 15, 5187–5203, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5187-2021,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5187-2021, 2021
Short summary

Cited articles

Alley, K. E., Wild, C. T., Luckman, A., Scambos, T. A., Truffer, M., Pettit, E. C., Muto, A., Wallin, B., Klinger, M., Sutterley, T., Child, S. F., Hulen, C., Lenaerts, J. T. M., Maclennan, M., Keenan, E., and Dunmire, D.: Two decades of dynamic change and progressive destabilization on the Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf, The Cryosphere, 15, 5187–5203, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5187-2021, 2021. a, b, c, d
Alley, R. B., Anandakrishnan, S., Christianson, K., Horgan, H. J., Muto, A., Parizek, B. R., Pollard, D., and Walker, R. T.: Oceanic forcing of ice-sheet retreat: West Antarctica and more, Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci., 43, 207–231, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-earth-060614-105344, 2015. a
Barnes, J. M., Dias dos Santos, T., Goldberg, D., Gudmundsson, G. H., Morlighem, M., and De Rydt, J.: The transferability of adjoint inversion products between different ice flow models, The Cryosphere, 15, 1975–2000, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1975-2021, 2021. a
Bindschadler, R., Vornberger, P., Fleming, A., Fox, A., Mullins, J., Binnie, D., Paulsen, S. J., Granneman, B., and Gorodetzky, D.: The Landsat image mosaic of Antarctica, Remote Sens. Environ., 112, 4214–4226, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2008.07.006, 2008. a, b, c
Bindschadler, R., Choi, H., Wichlacz, A., Bingham, R., Bohlander, J., Brunt, K., Corr, H., Drews, R., Fricker, H., Hall, M., Hindmarsh, R., Kohler, J., Padman, L., Rack, W., Rotschky, G., Urbini, S., Vornberger, P., and Young, N.: Getting around Antarctica: new high-resolution mappings of the grounded and freely-floating boundaries of the Antarctic ice sheet created for the International Polar Year, The Cryosphere, 5, 569–588, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-5-569-2011, 2011. a
Short summary
Thwaites Glacier has the potential to significantly raise Antarctica's contribution to global sea-level rise by the end of this century. Here, we use satellite measurements of surface elevation to show that its floating part is close to losing contact with an underwater ridge that currently acts to stabilize. We then use computer models of ice flow to simulate the predicted unpinning, which show that accelerated ice discharge into the ocean follows the breakup of the floating part.
Share