Widespread, rapid grounding line retreat of Pine Island, Thwaites, Smith and Kohler glaciers, West Antarctica from 1992 to 2011
Permanent Link:

Material Information

Title:
Widespread, rapid grounding line retreat of Pine Island, Thwaites, Smith and Kohler glaciers, West Antarctica from 1992 to 2011
Creator:
Rignot, E.
Mouginot, J.
Morlighem, M.
Seroussi, H.
Scheuchl,B.
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union
Publication Date:
Language:
English

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Climate Change ( lcsh )
Antarctica ( lcsh )
Glaciers ( lcsh )

Notes

Abstract:
We measure the grounding line retreat of glaciers draining the Amundsen Sea Embayment of West Antarctica using Earth Remote Sensing (ERS-1/2) satellite radar interferometry from 1992 to 2011. Pine Island Glacier retreated 31 km at its center, with most retreat in 2005-2009 when the glacier un-grounded from its ice plain. Thwaites Glacier retreated 14 km along its fast- ow core and 1 to 9 km along the sides. Haynes Glacier retreated 10 km along its anks. Smith/Kohler glaciers retreated the most, 35 km along its ice plain, and its ice shelf pinning points are vanishing. These rapid retreats proceed along re- gions of retrograde bed elevation mapped at a high spatial resolution using a mass conservation technique (MC) that removes residual ambiguities from prior mappings. Upstream of the 2011 grounding line positions, we found no major bed obstacle that would prevent the glaciers from further retreat and draw down the entire basin. ( English )

Record Information

Source Institution:
Florida International University
Rights Management:
Please contact the owning institution for licensing and permissions. It is the user's responsibility to ensure use does not violate any third party rights.

dpSobek Membership

Aggregations:
Sea Level Rise