Published in

Nature Research, Nature Communications, 1(6), 2015

DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9910

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Rapid Holocene thinning of an East Antarctic outlet glacier driven by marine ice sheet instability

Journal article published in 2015 by R. S. Jones, A. N. Mackintosh, K. P. Norton, N. R. Golledge ORCID, C. J. Fogwill ORCID, P. W. Kubik, M. Christl, S. L. Greenwood
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

Full text: Download

Green circle
Preprint: archiving allowed
Upload
Red circle
Postprint: archiving forbidden
Green circle
Published version: archiving allowed
Upload
Policy details
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

AbstractOutlet glaciers grounded on a bed that deepens inland and extends below sea level are potentially vulnerable to ‘marine ice sheet instability’. This instability, which may lead to runaway ice loss, has been simulated in models, but its consequences have not been directly observed in geological records. Here we provide new surface-exposure ages from an outlet of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet that reveal rapid glacier thinning occurred approximately 7,000 years ago, in the absence of large environmental changes. Glacier thinning persisted for more than two and a half centuries, resulting in hundreds of metres of ice loss. Numerical simulations indicate that ice surface drawdown accelerated when the otherwise steadily retreating glacier encountered a bedrock trough. Together, the geological reconstruction and numerical simulations suggest that centennial-scale glacier thinning arose from unstable grounding line retreat. Capturing these instability processes in ice sheet models is important for predicting Antarctica’s future contribution to sea level change.