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GLACIOLOGY

The health of Antarctic ice shelves

Nature Climate Change volume 8, pages 15–16 (2018)Cite this article

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The thinning of floating ice shelves around Antarctica enhances upstream ice flow, contributing to sea-level rise. Ice-shelf thinning is now shown to influence glacial movement over much larger distances than previously thought.

Floating ice shelves play an important mechanical role in controlling the movement of grounded tributary glaciers, providing a buttress — or barrier — that constrains ice flow into the ocean. If these ice shelves are weakened by a reduction in their size or thickness, upstream flow can be drastically accelerated. Following the disintegration of the Larsen B Ice Shelf in 2002, for example, the neighboring Hektoria, Green and Evans glaciers experienced a marked acceleration4, increasing annual ice fluxes from 2.7 km3 to 23.5 km3. Today, more than a decade after the Larsen B collapse, these glaciers are still losing mass at an increased rate. Similar features were also observed following the collapse of the Larsen A and Wilkins Ice Shelves in January 1995 and March 1998 (ref. 5), respectively.

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  1. University Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France

    Olivier Gagliardini

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  1. Olivier Gagliardini
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Correspondence to Olivier Gagliardini.

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Gagliardini, O. The health of Antarctic ice shelves. Nature Clim Change 8, 15–16 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-017-0037-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-017-0037-1

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