Articles | Volume 18, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4567-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4567-2024
Research article
 | 
07 Oct 2024
Research article |  | 07 Oct 2024

Melt sensitivity of irreversible retreat of Pine Island Glacier

Brad Reed, J. A. Mattias Green, Adrian Jenkins, and G. Hilmar Gudmundsson

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Cited articles

Adusumilli, S., Fricker, H. A., Medley, B., Padman, L., and Siegfried, M. R.: Interannual variations in meltwater input to the Southern Ocean from Antarctic ice shelves, Nat. Geosci., 13, 616–620, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-020-0616-z, 2020. a
Alevropoulos-Borrill, A. V., Nias, I. J., Payne, A. J., Golledge, N. R., and Bingham, R. J.: Ocean-forced evolution of the Amundsen Sea catchment, West Antarctica, by 2100, The Cryosphere, 14, 1245–1258, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1245-2020, 2020. a
Arndt, J. E., Larter, R. D., Friedl, P., Gohl, K., Höppner, K., and the Science Team of Expedition PS104: Bathymetric controls on calving processes at Pine Island Glacier, The Cryosphere, 12, 2039–2050, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2039-2018, 2018. a
Bett, D. T., Bradley, A. T., Williams, C. R., Holland, P. R., Arthern, R. J., and Goldberg, D. N.: Coupled ice–ocean interactions during future retreat of West Antarctic ice streams in the Amundsen Sea sector, The Cryosphere, 18, 2653–2675, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2653-2024, 2024. a
Bindschadler, R., Vaughan, D. G., and Vornberger, P.: Variability of basal melt beneath the Pine Island Glacier ice shelf, West Antarctica, J. Glaciol., 57, 581–595, https://doi.org/10.3189/002214311797409802, 2011. a
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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.