Journal
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
Volume 43, Issue 20, Pages 10817-10825Publisher
AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION
DOI: 10.1002/2016GL070500
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Funding
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NNX16AM01G, NNX12AB69G, NNX15AH84G]
- U.S. National Science Foundation [PLR-0732869, PLR-0732730, PLR-1443190, PLR-0632282, ANT-0732926, AGS-138832, ANT-0424589]
- New York University Abu Dhabi Research Institute [G1204]
- U.K. Natural Environment Research Council iSTAR program [NE/J005703/1, NE/G001367/1, NE/J005746/1]
- South Korean Polar Research Institute grant KOPRI [PP15020]
- NERC [NE/J005770/1, NE/J005746/1, bas0100033, NE/J005703/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- STFC [ST/L00075X/1, ST/I001573/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- Natural Environment Research Council [NE/J005746/1, NE/J005703/1, NE/J005770/1, bas0100033] Funding Source: researchfish
- Science and Technology Facilities Council [ST/L00075X/1, ST/I001573/1] Funding Source: researchfish
- Office of Polar Programs (OPP)
- Directorate For Geosciences [1443190] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Korea Institute of Marine Science & Technology Promotion (KIMST) [PP15020] Funding Source: Korea Institute of Science & Technology Information (KISTI), National Science & Technology Information Service (NTIS)
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We present subannual observations (2009-2014) of a major West Antarctic glacier (Pine Island Glacier) and the neighboring ocean. Ongoing glacier retreat and accelerated ice flow were likely triggered a few decades ago by increased ocean-induced thinning, which may have initiated marine ice sheet instability. Following a subsequent 60% drop in ocean heat content from early 2012 to late 2013, ice flow slowed, but by<4%, with flow recovering as the ocean warmed to prior temperatures. During this cold-ocean period, the evolving glacier-bed/ice shelf system was also in a geometry favorable to stabilization. However, despite a minor, temporary decrease in ice discharge, the basin-wide thinning signal did not change. Thus, as predicted by theory, once marine ice sheet instability is underway, a single transient high-amplitude ocean cooling has only a relatively minor effect on ice flow. The long-term effects of ocean temperature variability on ice flow, however, are not yet known.
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