Articles | Volume 20, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-1087-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-1087-2026
Research article
 | 
12 Feb 2026
Research article |  | 12 Feb 2026

Large regional differences in Antarctic ice shelf mass loss from Southern Ocean warming and meltwater feedbacks

Morven Muilwijk, Tore Hattermann, Rebecca L. Beadling, Neil C. Swart, Aleksi Nummelin, Chuncheng Guo, David M. Chandler, Petra M. Langebroek, Shenjie Zhou, Pierre Dutrieux, Jia-Jia Chen, Christopher Danek, Matthew H. England, Stephen M. Griffies, F. Alexander Haumann, André Jüling, Ombeline Jouet, Qian Li, Torge Martin, John Marshall, Andrew G. Pauling, Ariaan Purich, Zihan Song, Inga J. Smith, Max Thomas, Irene Trombini, Eveline C. van der Linden, and Xiaoqi Xu

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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, b, c, d
Bamber, J. L., Oppenheimer, M., Kopp, R. E., Aspinall, W. P., and Cooke, R. M.: Ice sheet contributions to future sea-level rise from structured expert judgment, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 116, 11195–11200, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1817205116, 2019. a
Barthel, A., Agosta, C., Little, C. M., Hattermann, T., Jourdain, N. C., Goelzer, H., Nowicki, S., Seroussi, H., Straneo, F., and Bracegirdle, T. J.: CMIP5 model selection for ISMIP6 ice sheet model forcing: Greenland and Antarctica, The Cryosphere, 14, 855–879, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-855-2020, 2020. a, b, c, d, e
Beadling, R. L.: Global consequences of regional connectivity along the Antarctic margin, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 128, e2023JC019908, https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JC019908, 2023. a
Beadling, R. L., Russell, J. L., Stouffer, R. J., Goodman, P. J., and Mazloff, M.: Assessing the quality of Southern Ocean circulation in CMIP5 AOGCM and Earth system model simulations, J. Climate, 32, 5915–5940, https://doi.org/10.1175/jcli-d-19-0263.1, 2019. a, b
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Short summary
Antarctic meltwater affects ocean stratification and temperature, which in turn influences the rate of ice shelf melting – a coupling missing in most climate models. We analyze a suite of climate models with added meltwater to explore this feedback in different regions. While meltwater generally enhances ocean warming and melt, in West Antarctica most models simulate coastal cooling, suggesting a negative feedback that could slow future ice loss there.
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