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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 31, L23402, doi:10.1029/2004GL021106, 2004

Warm ocean is eroding West Antarctic Ice Sheet

Andrew Shepherd

Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling, Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK


Duncan Wingham

Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling, University College London, London, UK


Eric Rignot

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA


Abstract

Satellite radar measurements show that ice shelves in Pine Island Bay have thinned by up to 5.5 m yr−1 over the past decade. The pattern of shelf thinning mirrors that of their grounded tributaries - the Pine Island, Thwaites and Smith glaciers - and ocean currents on average 0.5°C warmer than freezing appear to be the source. The synchronised imbalance of the inland glaciers is the result of reduced lateral and basal tractions at their termini, and the drawdown of grounded ice shows that Antarctica is more sensitive to changing climates than was previously considered.

Received 26 July 2004; accepted 7 October 2004; published 9 December 2004.

Index Terms: 1640 Global Change: Remote sensing; 1827 Hydrology: Glaciology (1863); 1863 Hydrology: Snow and ice (1827); 4207 Oceanography: General: Arctic and Antarctic oceanography; 9310 Information Related to Geographic Region: Antarctica.

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Citation: Shepherd, A., D. Wingham, and E. Rignot (2004), Warm ocean is eroding West Antarctic Ice Sheet, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L23402, doi:10.1029/2004GL021106.