Science Source
Gourmelen, Noel, Goldberg, Dan N., Snow, Kate, Henley, Sian F., Bingham, Robert G., Kimura, Satoshi, Hogg, Anna E., Shepherd, Andrew, Mouginot, Jeremie, Lenaerts, Jan T. M., Ligtenberg, Stefan R. M., Berg, Willem Jan
Geophysical Research Letters
Published date October 10, 2017

Channelized Melting Drives Thinning Under a Rapidly Melting Antarctic Ice Shelf

  • States that ice shelves act as safety bands around the Antarctic ice sheet
  • Many ice shelves are currently thinning, leading to acceleration of the grounded ice behind
  • Shows that ice shelves' thinning is stronger along a channel structure formed by the ocean circulation under the ice shelf
  • Finds that the thinning is 3 times higher than the ice shelf's average, hence leading to a more rapid weakening of the ice shelf
  • Provides evidence of basal melt-driven sub-ice shelf channel formation and its potential for accelerating the weakening of ice shelves

Related Content

Headline
Jan 29, 2020 | BBC News
Journey to the 'doomsday glacier'
Headline
Nov 22, 2019 | NOAA Climate.gov
Understanding climate: Antarctic sea ice extent
Headline
Mar 26, 2019 | The Guardian
Australian researchers find huge lakes beneath largest east Antarctic glacier
Science Source
| Geophysical Research Letters
Mass Loss of Totten and Moscow University Glaciers, East Antarctica, Using Regionally Optimized GRACE Mascons
Yara Mohajerani, Isabella Velicogna, Eric Rignot
Resource Hub