Inland thinning of West Antarctic Ice Sheet steered along subglacial rifts

Bingham, Robert G.; Ferraccioli, Fausto; King, Edward C.; Larter, Robert D.; Pritchard, Hamish D.; Smith, Andrew M.; Vaughan, David G.. 2012 Inland thinning of West Antarctic Ice Sheet steered along subglacial rifts. Nature, 487 (7408). 468-471. 10.1038/nature11292

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Abstract/Summary

Nature | Letter Previous article Next article Inland thinning of West Antarctic Ice Sheet steered along subglacial rifts Robert G. Bingham, Fausto Ferraccioli, Edward C. King, Robert D. Larter, Hamish D. Pritchard, Andrew M. Smith & David G. Vaughan Affiliations Contributions Corresponding author Nature 487, 468–471 (26 July 2012) doi:10.1038/nature11292 Received 29 March 2012 Accepted 07 June 2012 Published online 25 July 2012 Article tools 日本語要約 Print Email Download PDF View interactive pdf Download citation Order reprints Rights and permissions Share/bookmark Current ice loss from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) accounts for about ten per cent of observed global sea-level rise1. Losses are dominated by dynamic thinning, in which forcings by oceanic or atmospheric perturbations to the ice margin lead to an accelerated thinning of ice along the coastline2, 3, 4, 5. Although central to improving projections of future ice-sheet contributions to global sea-level rise, the incorporation of dynamic thinning into models has been restricted by lack of knowledge of basal topography and subglacial geology so that the rate and ultimate extent of potential WAIS retreat remains difficult to quantify. Here we report the discovery of a subglacial basin under Ferrigno Ice Stream up to 1.5 kilometres deep that connects the ice-sheet interior to the Bellingshausen Sea margin, and whose existence profoundly affects ice loss. We use a suite of ice-penetrating radar, magnetic and gravity measurements to propose a rift origin for the basin in association with the wider development of the West Antarctic rift system. The Ferrigno rift, overdeepened by glacial erosion, is a conduit which fed a major palaeo-ice stream on the adjacent continental shelf during glacial maxima6. The palaeo-ice stream, in turn, eroded the ‘Belgica’ trough, which today routes warm open-ocean water back to the ice front7 to reinforce dynamic thinning. We show that dynamic thinning from both the Bellingshausen and Amundsen Sea region is being steered back to the ice-sheet interior along rift basins. We conclude that rift basins that cut across the WAIS margin can rapidly transmit coastally perturbed change inland, thereby promoting ice-sheet instability.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number/DOI:	10.1038/nature11292
Programmes:	BAS Programmes > Polar Science for Planet Earth (2009 - ) > Ice Sheets
ISSN:	0028-0836
Additional Keywords:	Geology, Earth sciences, Geophysics, Cliamte science
Date made live:	04 May 2012 07:49
URI:	http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/17878

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