Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Yudong Sun, Bryan Riel, Brent Minchew
Summary: The collapse of an ice shelf can cause glaciers to accelerate and lead to rapid ice mass loss. This study investigates the deformation of landfast sea ice to understand the resistive stresses and mechanisms driving ice collapse. By analyzing synthetic aperture radar data, the researchers found that the landfast ice in the Antarctic Peninsula disintegrated in 2022 due to several large opening rifts. They also observed that grounded glaciers did not immediately accelerate after the collapse, indicating a limited buttressing effect from landfast ice. These findings suggest that the buttressing stresses are unlikely to recover within the sub-decadal timescales following ice shelf collapse.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Yudong Sun, Bryan Riel, Brent Minchew
Summary: The speed-up of glaciers can significantly increase ice mass loss after the collapse of an ice shelf. This study investigates the deformation of landfast sea ice to understand its resistive stresses and the mechanisms of ice collapse. By analyzing radar data, the researchers found that the landfast ice filling the embayment formerly covered by the Larsen B Ice Shelf disintegrated in 2022 due to a few large opening rifts. The grounded glaciers did not immediately accelerate after the collapse, suggesting little buttressing effect from landfast ice.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Lianne C. Harrison, Paul R. Holland, Karen J. Heywood, Keith W. Nicholls, Alex M. Brisbourne
Summary: This study uses an ocean model to investigate the relationship between surface lowering on the Larsen C Ice Shelf in Antarctica and changes in ocean forcing. The results suggest that ocean warming leads to a reduction in stabilizing marine ice beneath the ice shelf, implying a high sensitivity of the ice shelf's stability to changes in ocean forcing. This finding could have wide implications for other cold-water ice shelves around Antarctica.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
M. Mar Flexas, Andrew F. Thompson, Michael P. Schodlok, Hong Zhang, Kevin Speer
Summary: The observed acceleration of ice shelf basal melt rates throughout West Antarctica could destabilize continental ice sheets and markedly increase global sea level. Explanations for decadal-scale melt intensification have focused on processes local to shelf seas surrounding the ice shelves. A suite of process-based model experiments, guided by CMIP6 forcing scenarios, show that freshwater forcing from the Antarctic Peninsula, propagated between marginal seas by a coastal boundary current, causes enhanced melting throughout West Antarctica.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
P. A. Reid, R. A. Massom
Summary: Loss of protective sea-ice buffer in Antarctica has led to increased exposure of the coastal environment to open ocean and waves, which has significant effects on ice-shelf stability, coastal erosion, ice-ocean-atmosphere interactions, and shallow benthic ecosystems. Researchers have introduced a climate and environmental metric called Coastal Exposure Length, which measures the daily changes and variability in the length and occurrence of unprotected coastline in Antarctica. The study found that around 50% of Antarctica's 17,850-km coastline had no sea ice offshore each summer, with variations in exposure levels across regions and seasons. From 1979 to 2020, the annual maximum length of coastal exposure decreased by approximately 30 km per year.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Sergi Gonzalez-Herrero, David Barriopedro, Ricardo M. Trigo, Joan Albert Lopez-Bustins, Marc Oliva
Summary: In February 2020, the Antarctic Peninsula experienced anomalously warm temperatures and one of the most intense heatwaves ever recorded, with the intensity of the heatwave increasing by approximately 25% compared to the past, largely due to the long-term warming of the Antarctic Peninsula.
COMMUNICATIONS EARTH & ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
E. Larour, E. Rignot, M. Poinelli, B. Scheuchl
Summary: Research has shown that ice shelf thinning does not reactivate rifts, but rather heals them; on the other hand, thinning of the ice melange encasing preexisting rifts controls the opening rate of the rift, with an above-linear dependence on thinning.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Geography, Physical
Dominic A. Hodgson, Tom A. Jordan, Neil Ross, Teal R. Riley, Peter T. Fretwell
Summary: This article describes the rapid drainage and slow refill of a subglacial lake under Mars Glacier on the Antarctic Peninsula, discussing the influence of these features on glacier behavior and exploring the possibility of subglacial hydrological networks being activated or enhanced by surface meltwater.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Min Xu, Lejiang Yu, Kaixin Liang, Timo Vihma, Deniz Bozkurt, Xiaoming Hu, Qinghua Yang
Summary: By studying the extreme temperature event on the Antarctic Peninsula in 2020, it was found that the formation mechanism of this event was due to a ridge of high pressure and a blocking high pressure that brought warm and moist air from the Pacific Ocean to the Antarctic Peninsula, with foehn warming playing a key role in vertical air flow.
COMMUNICATIONS EARTH & ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Kazuya Kusahara
Summary: Recent observations have shown changes in the Antarctic sea ice and ice shelf over the years. Analysis from an ocean-sea ice-ice shelf model reveals a clear anti-correlation between Antarctic sea ice extent and ice shelf basal melting, indicating that the summer sea ice extent can act as a proxy for predicting Antarctic coastal water masses and ice shelf melting.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Darin Comeau, Xylar S. Asay-Davis, Carolyn Branecky Begeman, Matthew J. Hoffman, Wuyin Lin, Mark R. Petersen, Stephen F. Price, Andrew F. Roberts, Luke P. Van Roekel, Milena Veneziani, Jonathan D. Wolfe, Jeremy G. Fyke, Todd D. Ringler, Adrian K. Turner
Summary: In this study, the configuration of the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) v1.2 for the cryosphere is documented. The model includes the simulation and parameterization of Antarctic ice-shelf basal melting and iceberg melt, aiming to accurately represent the mass loss processes of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. The results show that the ocean/ice shelf interactions are highly sensitive to the ocean state, and including a spatially dependent parameterization can reduce biases in water mass properties. The E3SM model produces realistic ice-shelf basal melt rates across the continent that are consistent with observations.
JOURNAL OF ADVANCES IN MODELING EARTH SYSTEMS
(2022)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Shujie Wang, Hongxing Liu, Richard B. Alley, Kenneth Jezek, Patrick Alexander, Karen E. Alley, Zhengrui Huang, Lei Wang
Summary: Through satellite observations, modeling experiments, and climate reanalysis data, it is found that the calving behavior of the Larsen Ice Shelf is controlled by atmospheric and oceanic anomalies, and warm climate anomalies play an important role in causing ice shelf collapse.
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Geography, Physical
Karla Boxall, Frazer D. W. Christie, Ian C. Willis, Jan Wuite, Thomas Nagler
Summary: Recent satellite-remote sensing studies have provided evidence for seasonal flow variability of the land ice feeding George VI Ice Shelf in the Antarctic Peninsula. The study utilized high-resolution Copernicus SentineL-1A/B synthetic aperture radar observations and found an acceleration of ice flow during the southern summer season, potentially driven by surface and oceanic forcing mechanisms. Similar mechanisms may be responsible for seasonal accelerations at grounding lines of other vulnerable outlet glaciers in Antarctica.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Shujie Wang, Hongxing Liu, Kenneth Jezek, Richard B. Alley, Lei Wang, Patrick Alexander, Yan Huang
Summary: The rapid retreat of Larsen A and B ice shelves provides important clues for understanding the destabilization processes of ice shelves. By analyzing satellite images and conducting modeling experiments, this study reveals that rift-induced tabular iceberg calving and mechanical weakening due to rifts play significant roles in the retreat and instability of the largest remaining ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula, Larsen C. The findings emphasize the importance of considering the effects of rifts on ice rigidity in ice shelf models to accurately predict their dynamics and instability. The study also offers valuable insights into the historical and future destabilization of Antarctic ice shelves.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-EARTH SURFACE
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Benjamin J. Wallis, Anna E. Hogg, J. Melchior van Wessem, Benjamin J. Davison, Michiel R. van den Broeke
Summary: An analysis of satellite observations from 2014 to 2021 reveals that glaciers on the west Antarctic Peninsula experienced an average summer speed-up of 12.4% and a maximum speed change of 22.3%. This indicates a strong sensitivity of these glaciers to seasonal variations in the ice-ocean-atmosphere system, emphasizing the importance of accounting for seasonal speed variations when assessing the mass balance and sea level contribution of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Lu An, Eric Rignot, Michael Wood, Josh K. Willis, Jeremie Mouginot, Shfaqat A. Khan
Summary: The study analyzed the impact of ocean thermal forcing on the glaciers in northeast Greenland, revealing that ice removal at the grounding line by the ocean is a main driver of ice sheet retreat. The findings highlight the importance of incorporating ocean-induced ice removal in ice sheet models.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Michael Wood, Eric Rignot, Ian Fenty, Lu An, Anders Bjork, Michiel van den Broeke, Cilan Cai, Emily Kane, Dimitris Menemenlis, Romain Millan, Mathieu Morlighem, Jeremie Mouginot, Brice Noel, Bernd Scheuchl, Isabella Velicogna, Josh K. Willis, Hong Zhang
Summary: Research shows that the intrusion of warm Atlantic Waters has significantly influenced the retreat of 226 marine-terminating glaciers in Greenland, particularly those located in deep fjords. Excluding ocean-induced undercutting in ice sheet projections may underestimate mass loss by at least a factor of 2.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Eric Rignot, Lu An, Nolwenn Chauche, Mathieu Morlighem, Seongsu Jeong, Michael Wood, Jeremie Mouginot, Josh K. Willis, Ingo Klaucke, Wilhelm Weinrebe, Andreas Muenchow
Summary: Humboldt Glacier in North Greenland is a slow-moving glacier with a significant impact on global sea level rise, with recent increases in sea level primarily attributed to undercutting by warm water and ice thinning.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Yara Mohajerani, Seongsu Jeong, Bernd Scheuchl, Isabella Velicogna, Eric Rignot, Pietro Milillo
Summary: The study presents a method for automatically delineating the grounding line of marine-terminating glaciers using a fully-convolutional neural network, efficiently and accompanied by uncertainty estimates. The value of machine learning approach is demonstrated in challenging situations to map grounding lines.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Review
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Joseph A. MacGregor, Linette N. Boisvert, Brooke Medley, Alek A. Petty, Jeremy P. Harbeck, Robin E. Bell, J. Bryan Blair, Edward Blanchard-Wrigglesworth, Ellen M. Buckley, Michael S. Christoffersen, James R. Cochran, Beata M. Csatho, Eugenia L. De Marco, RoseAnne T. Dominguez, Mark A. Fahnestock, Sinead L. Farrell, S. Prasad Gogineni, Jamin S. Greenbaum, Christy M. Hansen, Michelle A. Hofton, John W. Holt, Kenneth C. Jezek, Lora S. Koenig, Nathan T. Kurtz, Ronald Kwok, Christopher F. Larsen, Carlton J. Leuschen, Caitlin D. Locke, Serdar S. Manizade, Seelye Martin, Thomas A. Neumann, Sophie M. J. Nowicki, John D. Paden, Jacqueline A. Richter-Menge, Eric J. Rignot, Fernando Rodriguez-Morales, Matthew R. Siegfried, Benjamin E. Smith, John G. Sonntag, Michael Studinger, Kirsty J. Tinto, Martin Truffer, Thomas P. Wagner, John E. Woods, Duncan A. Young, James K. Yungel
Summary: Operation IceBridge conducted by NASA over 13 years aimed to survey land and sea ice using airborne laser altimetry. With 968 science flights, OIB greatly improved our understanding of land ice and sea ice, leading to numerous unexpected discoveries and providing valuable data for future research on the cryosphere.
REVIEWS OF GEOPHYSICS
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
P. Milillo, E. Rignot, P. Rizzoli, B. Scheuchl, J. Mouginot, J. L. Bueso-Bello, P. Prats-Iraola, L. Dini
Summary: Grounding-line observations from satellite radar interferometry show that the Pope, Smith, and Kohler glaciers in West Antarctica have experienced rapid retreat rates in recent years, faster than anticipated. The retreat is likely caused by unrepresented ice-ocean interactions within newly formed cavities at the ice-ocean boundary.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Eric Rignot, Anders Bjork, Nolwenn Chauche, Ingo Klaucke
Summary: The recent retreat of the Storstrommen and L. Bistrup Br AE glaciers in North Greenland is attributed to glacier thinning rather than the influence of ocean waters, highlighting the fundamental importance of understanding the bathymetry of glacial fjords.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Shfaqat A. Khan, Jonathan L. Bamber, Eric Rignot, Veit Helm, Andy Aschwanden, David M. Holland, Michiel van den Broeke, Michalea King, Brice Noel, Martin Truffer, Angelika Humbert, William Colgan, Saurabh Vijay, Peter Kuipers Munneke
Summary: We used satellite and airborne altimetry to estimate annual mass changes of the Greenland Ice Sheet. The study revealed that Greenland has experienced substantial ice loss, resulting in a sea-level rise of 6.9 mm from 2011 to 2020. The researchers also observed contrasting patterns of mass loss in different regions of the ice sheet, suggesting the potential use of these trends for validating ice sheet models.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-EARTH SURFACE
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Boris Dorschel, Laura Hehemann, Sacha Viquerat, Fynn Warnke, Simon Dreutter, Yvonne Schulze Tenberge, Daniela Accettella, Lu An, Felipe Barrios, Evgenia Bazhenova, Jenny Black, Fernando Bohoyo, Craig Davey, Laura De Santis, Carlota Escutia Dotti, Alice C. Fremand, Peter T. Fretwell, Jenny A. Gales, Jinyao Gao, Luca Gasperini, Jamin S. Greenbaum, Jennifer Henderson Jencks, Kelly Hogan, Jong Kuk Hong, Martin Jakobsson, Laura Jensen, Johnathan Kool, Sergei Larin, Robert D. Larter, German Leitchenkov, Benoit Loubrieu, Kevin Mackay, Larry Mayer, Romain Millan, Mathieu Morlighem, Francisco Navidad, Frank O. Nitsche, Yoshifumi Nogi, Cecile Pertuisot, Alexandra L. Post, Hamish D. Pritchard, Autun Purser, Michele Rebesco, Eric Rignot, Jason L. Roberts, Marzia Rovere, Ivan Ryzhov, Chiara Sauli, Thierry Schmitt, Alessandro Silvano, Jodie Smith, Helen Snaith, Alex J. Tate, Kirsty Tinto, Philippe Vandenbossche, Pauline Weatherall, Paul Wintersteller, Chunguo Yang, Tao Zhang, Jan Erik Arndt
Summary: The Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica is of great significance for global climate and oceanic processes, with high biological productivity and biodiversity. The collaboration between the IBCSO Project and the Nippon Foundation - GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project has led to the development of the comprehensive IBCSO v2, which serves as the most authoritative seafloor map of the area south of 50 degrees S.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Eric Rignot, Jeremie Mouginot, Bernd Scheuchl, Seongsu Jeong
Summary: Ice motion and boundaries in Antarctica from 1995 to 2022 were studied, and the results showed no change in East Antarctica, widespread glacier speedup in West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula, and iceberg detachments at ice shelf fronts. These changes are attributed to increased melting caused by warmer ocean waters.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Shivani Ehrenfeucht, Mathieu Morlighem, Eric Rignot, Christine F. F. Dow, Jeremie Mouginot
Summary: Using satellite radar interferometry data, researchers observe a seasonal acceleration of Petermann Glacier in northern Greenland, but the physical drivers behind this seasonality have not been explained. By coupling a subglacial hydrology model with an ice sheet model, they find that seasonal changes in subglacial hydrology are sufficient to explain the observed seasonal speed up of the glacier.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Shfaqat A. Khan, Youngmin Choi, Mathieu Morlighem, Eric Rignot, Veit Helm, Angelika Humbert, Jeremie Mouginot, Romain Millan, Kurt H. Kjaer, Anders A. Bjork
Summary: Over the past two decades, ice loss from the Greenland ice sheet has increased, especially from the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream. This study shows that rapid retreat in this area will contribute to sea-level rise and cause significant changes in the coming century.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Hanning Chen, Eric Rignot, Bernd Scheuchl, Shivani Ehrenfeucht
Summary: We used Sentinel-1 radar interferometry data from 2018 to study the grounding line position of three glaciers in East Antarctica. These glaciers lose about 47 billion tons of ice per year. We found kilometer-scale tidal migration, larger than expected, and not in sync with oceanic tide changes. In estuaries with subglacial channels, we observed two states of migration that switch on and off over several weeks, and the vertical motion revealed a water column thickness of 2-20 cm. This intrusion of seawater into wide grounding zones is not considered in current models, but it can lead to increased melting and mass loss of glaciers due to ocean warming.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Geography, Physical
Romain Millan, Jeremie Mouginot, Anna Derkacheva, Eric Rignot, Pietro Milillo, Enrico Ciraci, Luigi Dini, Anders Bjork
Summary: The grounding line of the Petermann ice shelf in Greenland has retreated significantly in the past 30 years, particularly in the central sector. This retreat is likely to be influenced by the downsloping bed and enhanced submarine melting caused by warming ocean waters. The glacier acceleration and the formation of fractures within the ice shelf are also contributing factors.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Youngmin Choi, Mathieu Morlighem, Eric Rignot, Michael Wood
Summary: The mass loss of the Greenland Ice Sheet is mainly attributed to surface melt and ice dynamics changes, with marine-terminating glaciers projected to contribute significantly more mass loss in the future. Numerical models show that proper calibration and representation of ice-ocean interactions are crucial for accurate predictions.
COMMUNICATIONS EARTH & ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
