Transition to marine ice cliff instability controlled by ice thickness gradients and velocity

doi:10.1126/science.abf6271

. 2021 Jun 18;372(6548):1342-1344.

doi: 10.1126/science.abf6271.

Transition to marine ice cliff instability controlled by ice thickness gradients and velocity

J N Bassis¹, B Berg^{2

3}, A J Crawford⁴, D I Benn⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Climate and Space Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. jbassis@umich.edu.
² Department of Climate and Space Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
³ Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
⁴ School of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9AL, UK.

PMID: 34140387
DOI: 10.1126/science.abf6271

Transition to marine ice cliff instability controlled by ice thickness gradients and velocity

J N Bassis et al. Science. 2021.

. 2021 Jun 18;372(6548):1342-1344.

doi: 10.1126/science.abf6271.

Authors

J N Bassis¹, B Berg^{2

3}, A J Crawford⁴, D I Benn⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Climate and Space Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. jbassis@umich.edu.
² Department of Climate and Space Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
³ Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
⁴ School of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9AL, UK.

PMID: 34140387
DOI: 10.1126/science.abf6271

Abstract

Portions of ice sheets grounded deep beneath sea level can disintegrate if tall ice cliffs at the ice-ocean boundary start to collapse under their own weight. This process, called marine ice cliff instability, could lead to catastrophic retreat of sections of West Antarctica on decadal-to-century time scales. Here we use a model that resolves flow and failure of ice to show that dynamic thinning can slow or stabilize cliff retreat, but when ice thickness increases rapidly upstream from the ice cliff, there is a transition to catastrophic collapse. However, even if vulnerable locations like Thwaites Glacier start to collapse, small resistive forces from sea-ice and calved debris can slow down or arrest retreat, reducing the potential for sustained ice sheet collapse.

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Is the marine ice cliff hypothesis collapsing?
Golledge NR, Lowry DP. Golledge NR, et al. Science. 2021 Jun 18;372(6548):1266-1267. doi: 10.1126/science.abj3266. Science. 2021. PMID: 34140372 No abstract available.

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Transition to marine ice cliff instability controlled by ice thickness gradients and velocity

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Transition to marine ice cliff instability controlled by ice thickness gradients and velocity

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