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Abstract. Antarctic ice shelves buttress the flow of the ice sheet but are vulnerable to increased basal melting from contact with a warming ocean and increased mass loss from calving due to changing flow patterns. Channels and similar features at the bases of ice shelves have been linked to enhanced basal melting and observed to intersect the grounding zone, where the greatest melt rates are often observed. The ice shelf of Thwaites Glacier is especially vulnerable to basal melt and grounding zone retreat because the glacier has a retrograde bed leading to a deep trough below the grounded ice sheet. We use digital surface models from 2010–2022 to investigate the evolution of its ice-shelf channels, grounding zone position, and the interactions between them. We find that the highest sustained rates of grounding zone retreat (up to 0.7 km yr−1) are associated with high basal melt rates (up to ∼250 m yr−1) and are found where ice-shelf channels intersect the grounding zone, especially atop steep local retrograde slopes where subglacial channel discharge is expected. We find no areas with sustained grounding zone advance, although some secular retreat was distal from ice-shelf channels. Pinpointing other locations with similar risk factors could focus assessments of vulnerability to grounding zone retreat.
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Deep learning the flow law of Antarctic ice shelves
Antarctic ice shelves buttress the grounded ice sheet, mitigating global sea level rise. However, fundamental mechanical properties, such as the ice flow law and viscosity structure, remain under debate. In this work, by leveraging remote-sensing data and physics-informed deep learning, we provide evidence over several ice shelves that the flow law follows a grain size–sensitive composite rheology in the compression zone. In the extension zone, we found that ice exhibits anisotropic properties. We constructed ice shelf–wide anisotropic viscosity maps that capture the suture zones, which inhibit rift propagation. The inferred stress exponent near the grounding zone dictates the grounding-line ice flux and grounding line stability, whereas the inferred viscosity maps inform the prediction of rifts. Both are essential for predicting the future mass loss of the Antarctic Ice Sheet.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2245228
- PAR ID:
- 10599274
- Publisher / Repository:
- American Association for the Advancement of Science (United States)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Science
- Volume:
- 387
- Issue:
- 6739
- ISSN:
- 0036-8075
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1219 to 1224
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adp3300
