Articles | Volume 17, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3409-2023
© Author(s) 2023. 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-17-3409-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| Highlight paper
| 
23 Aug 2023
Research article | Highlight paper |
| 23 Aug 2023
| 23 Aug 2023
Widespread slowdown in thinning rates of West Antarctic ice shelves
Fernando S. Paolo
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, CA, USA
Alex S. Gardner
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, CA, USA
Chad A. Greene
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, CA, USA
Johan Nilsson
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, CA, USA
Michael P. Schodlok
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, CA, USA
Nicole-Jeanne Schlegel
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, CA, USA
Helen A. Fricker
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, San
Diego, CA, USA
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- Retrieval and validation of total seasonal liquid water amounts in the percolation zone of the Greenland ice sheet using L-band radiometry A. Hossan et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-4237-2025
- Large regional differences in Antarctic ice shelf mass loss from Southern Ocean warming and meltwater feedbacks M. Muilwijk et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-1087-2026
- Variability in ice shelf basal melting in the Amundsen Sea Embayment from 2019 to 2023 X. Meng et al. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ade729
- An Advanced Algorithm for Constructing Elevation Change Time Series With Satellite Altimetry Observations X. Li et al. https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTARS.2026.3657671
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- Antarctic ice-shelf meltwater outflows in satellite radar imagery: ground-truthing and basal channel observations J. Hamann et al. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2024.71
- Hard rocks and deep wetlands beneath Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica O. Zeising et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-03502-2
- Ice sheet mass flow and balance with constituent terms 2010–19 K. Mankoff et al. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2025.10092
- Multi-decadal collapse of East Antarctica’s Conger–Glenzer Ice Shelf C. Walker et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01582-3
- Elevation change of the Greenland Ice Sheet and its peripheral glaciers: 1992–2023 J. Nilsson & A. Gardner https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-1729-2026
- Southern Ocean warming and Antarctic ice shelf melting in conditions plausible by late 23rd century in a high-end scenario P. Mathiot & N. Jourdain https://doi.org/10.5194/os-19-1595-2023
- ITS_LIVE global glacier velocity data in near-real time A. Gardner et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-3517-2025
- Meteoric water and glacial melt in the southeastern Amundsen Sea: a time series from 1994 to 2020 A. Hennig et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-791-2024
- Experimental design for the Marine Ice Sheet–Ocean Model Intercomparison Project – phase 2 (MISOMIP2) J. De Rydt et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7105-2024
- Geometric amplification and suppression of ice-shelf basal melt in West Antarctica J. De Rydt & K. Naughten https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1863-2024
- Antarctic Ice Sheet grounding line discharge from 1996–2024 B. Davison et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-3259-2025
- Iron supply to the Amundsen Sea, Antarctica is dominated by circumpolar deepwater and continental subglacial sources V. Chinni et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-03264-x
- A new paradigm for understanding Earth’s marine ice sheets O. Sergienko et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-026-01941-2
- Basal reflectance and melt rates across the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica, from grounding line to ice shelf front D. Price et al. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2025.10
- Evaluation of MITgcm-based ocean reanalyses for the Southern Ocean Y. Nakayama et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-8613-2024
- Investigating the impact of sub-ice shelf melt on Antarctic ice sheet spin-up and projections F. Gao et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-1947-2026
- The case for a Framework for UnderStanding Ice-Ocean iNteractions (FUSION) in the Antarctic-Southern Ocean system F. McCormack et al. https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2024.00036
- Comparison of calibration methods of a PICO basal ice shelf melt module implemented in the GRISLI v2.0 ice sheet model M. Menthon et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-7297-2025
- Expansion of Antarctic surface melt through the 21st century Y. Zheng et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-71114-7
- Ice shelf calving due to shear stresses: observing the response of Brunt Ice Shelf and Halloween Crack to iceberg calving using ICESat-2 laser altimetry, satellite imagery, and ice flow models A. Morris et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-4303-2025
- Spatio-temporal melt and basal channel evolution on Pine Island Glacier ice shelf from CryoSat-2 K. Lowery et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-4893-2025
- Correlation analysis between Antarctic ice shelf calving and basal melting during 2010–2020 M. Liu et al. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-025-2547-4
- Brief communication: Sensitivity of Antarctic ice shelf melting to ocean warming across basal melt models E. Lambert & C. Burgard https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2495-2025
Saved (final revised paper)
Latest update: 23 Jun 2026
Editorial statement
This paper presents changes in thickness, flow and basal melt of Antarctic ice shelves over the past 26 years at relatively high resolution. An analysis based on an ocean model investigates the ice-ocean feedbacks. Overall, this is very useful for a large Antarctic research community.
This paper presents changes in thickness, flow and basal melt of Antarctic ice shelves over the...
Short summary
We report on a slowdown in the rate of thinning and melting of West Antarctic ice shelves. We present a comprehensive assessment of the Antarctic ice shelves, where we analyze at a continental scale the changes in thickness, flow, and basal melt over the past 26 years. We also present a novel method to estimate ice shelf change from satellite altimetry and a time-dependent data set of ice shelf thickness and basal melt rates at an unprecedented resolution.
We report on a slowdown in the rate of thinning and melting of West Antarctic ice shelves. We...
