The Cryosphere
The Cryosphere
TC
Articles | Volume 17, issue 4
Articles | Volume 17, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1787-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1787-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 17, issue 4
Research article
 | Highlight paper
 | 
28 Apr 2023
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 28 Apr 2023

Reversible ice sheet thinning in the Amundsen Sea Embayment during the Late Holocene

Greg Balco, Nathan Brown, Keir Nichols, Ryan A. Venturelli, Jonathan Adams, Scott Braddock, Seth Campbell, Brent Goehring, Joanne S. Johnson, Dylan H. Rood, Klaus Wilcken, Brenda Hall, and John Woodward

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In recent years there has been growing concern about the potentially irreversible retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and Thwaites Glacier in particular causing deglaciation of large parts of the ice sheet and leading to substantial sea-level rise. This study demonstrates that a site between Thwaites and Pope glaciers has undergone ice-sheet thinning and subsequent thickening in the past. The results are of importance for a better understanding of future threats to the stability of the West Antarctic ice sheet, and the ice-sheet evolution in the Amundsen sector over the late Holocene.
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Short summary
Samples of bedrock recovered from below the West Antarctic Ice Sheet show that part of the ice sheet was thinner several thousand years ago than it is now and subsequently thickened. This is important because of concern that present ice thinning in this region may lead to rapid, irreversible sea level rise. The past episode of thinning at this site that took place in a similar, although not identical, climate was not irreversible; however, reversal required at least 3000 years to complete.
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