TY - JOUR
T1 - Activation of existing surface crevasses has limited impact on grounding line flux of Antarctic Ice Streams
AU - Gerli, Cristina
AU - Rosier, Sebastian
AU - Gudmundsson, Hilmar
N1 - Funding information: Sebastian Rosier is supported by the PROPHET project, a component of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC). Support from National Science Foundation (NSF: Grant 1739031) and Natural Environment Research Council (NERC: Grant NE/S006745/1). ITGC Contribution No. ITGC-098.
PY - 2023/2/27
Y1 - 2023/2/27
N2 - Recent studies have identified widespread vulnerable ice shelf regions in Antarctica which are both highly buttressed and susceptible to crevasse hydrofracturing, raising concern for potential crevasse driven ice-shelf collapse and future sea level rise. Here, we employ the finite element ice flow model, Úa, to investigate whether crevasses which have propagated through the entire ice column have a significant impact on upstream flow and quantify their contribution to sea level rise. We find a large variability in the response of ice shelves to this perturbation, with changes in grounding line flux as large as 155% for the Filchner-Ronne and 46% for the Ross, when compared to the present day. Crevasses located close to the grounding lines contribute most of this change. When compared to a second perturbation in which ice shelves are completely removed, however, the response is relatively small for all modelled ice shelves.
AB - Recent studies have identified widespread vulnerable ice shelf regions in Antarctica which are both highly buttressed and susceptible to crevasse hydrofracturing, raising concern for potential crevasse driven ice-shelf collapse and future sea level rise. Here, we employ the finite element ice flow model, Úa, to investigate whether crevasses which have propagated through the entire ice column have a significant impact on upstream flow and quantify their contribution to sea level rise. We find a large variability in the response of ice shelves to this perturbation, with changes in grounding line flux as large as 155% for the Filchner-Ronne and 46% for the Ross, when compared to the present day. Crevasses located close to the grounding lines contribute most of this change. When compared to a second perturbation in which ice shelves are completely removed, however, the response is relatively small for all modelled ice shelves.
U2 - 10.1029/2022gl101687
DO - 10.1029/2022gl101687
M3 - Article
JO - Geophysical Research Letters
JF - Geophysical Research Letters
SN - 0094-8276
ER -