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.