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Instantaneous Antarctic ice sheet mass loss driven by thinning ice shelves
Author(s) -
Gudmundsson G. Hilmar,
Paolo Fernando S.,
Adusumilli Susheel,
Fricker Helen A.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2019gl085027
Subject(s) - ice shelf , geology , ice stream , ice sheet , antarctic sea ice , lead (geology) , thinning , antarctic ice sheet , sea ice , cryosphere , ice divide , arctic ice pack , oceanography , geomorphology , ecology , biology
Recent observations show that the rate at which the Antarctic ice sheet (AIS) is contributing to sea level rise is increasing. Increases in ice‐ocean heat exchange have the potential to induce substantial mass loss through the melting of its ice shelves. Lack of data and limitations in modeling, however, has made it challenging to quantify the importance of ocean‐induced changes in ice shelf thickness as a driver for ongoing mass loss. Here, we use a numerical ice sheet model in combination with satellite observations of ice shelf thinning from 1994 to 2017 to quantify instantaneous changes in ice flow across all AIS grounding lines, resulting from changes in ice shelf buttressing alone. Our process‐based predictions are in good agreement with observed spatial patterns of ice loss, providing support for the notion that a significant portion of the current ice loss of the AIS is ocean driven and caused by a reduction in ice shelf buttressing.