Coupled ice–ocean interactions during future retreat of West Antarctic ice streams in the Amundsen Sea sector

Bett, David T.; Bradley, Alexander T.; Williams, C. Rosie; Holland, Paul R.; Arthern, Robert J.; Goldberg, Daniel N.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2653-2024

Articles | Volume 18, issue 6

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2653-2024

© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

Improving the contribution of the land cryosphere to sea level...

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2653-2024

© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 18, issue 6

Research article

| Highlight paper

|

03 Jun 2024

Research article | Highlight paper |

| 03 Jun 2024

Coupled ice–ocean interactions during future retreat of West Antarctic ice streams in the Amundsen Sea sector

David T. Bett, Alexander T. Bradley, C. Rosie Williams, Paul R. Holland, Robert J. Arthern, and Daniel N. Goldberg

Data sets

Amundsen Sea sector MITgcm/WAVI coupled model output forced with idealised ocean boundary conditions over 180 years (Version 1.0) D. T. Bett et al. https://doi.org/10.5285/baa5097e-5139-4d8b-8986-3cc84c3319b7

Model code and software

David-Bett4/MITgcm: Release of MITgcm with WAVI coupling (v1.0.0) Jean-Michel Campin et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11394744

David-Bett4/WAVI.jl: Release of WAVI with MITgcm coupling (v0.0.2-coupling) Alex Bradley et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11389948

MITgcm and WAVI coupling scripts D. T. Bett et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11384525

Co-editor-in-chief

This manuscript addresses the stability of one of the most vulnerable regions of West Antarctica. Focusing on the so-called "doomsday" glacier, Thwaites glacier, the authors use a novel model that combines ice sheet and ocean to investigate how the ice melts at the pinning point - the points where the glacier is "pinned" to the bedrock.

Short summary

A new ice–ocean model simulates future ice sheet evolution in the Amundsen Sea sector of Antarctica. Substantial ice retreat is simulated in all scenarios, with some retreat still occurring even with no future ocean melting. The future of small "pinning points" (islands of ice that contact the seabed) is an important control on this retreat. Ocean melting is crucial in causing these features to go afloat, providing the link by which climate change may affect this sector's sea level contribution.