Marine ice regulates the future stability of a large Antarctic ice shelf

The collapses of the Larsen A and B ice shelves on the Antarctic Peninsula in 1995 and 2002 confirm the impact of southward-propagating climate warming in this region. Recent mass and dynamic changes of Larsen B’s southern neighbour Larsen C, the fourth largest ice shelf in Antarctica, may herald a...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications Vol. 5; no. 1; p. 3707
Main Authors: Kulessa, Bernd, Jansen, Daniela, Luckman, Adrian J., King, Edward C., Sammonds, Peter R.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 22.04.2014
Nature Publishing Group
Nature Pub. Group
Subjects:
704/106/125
704/2151/2809
Climate change
Global warming
Humanities and Social Sciences
Ice
Ice shelves
multidisciplinary
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Spatial distribution
ISSN:2041-1723, 2041-1723
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The collapses of the Larsen A and B ice shelves on the Antarctic Peninsula in 1995 and 2002 confirm the impact of southward-propagating climate warming in this region. Recent mass and dynamic changes of Larsen B’s southern neighbour Larsen C, the fourth largest ice shelf in Antarctica, may herald a similar instability. Here, using a validated ice-shelf model run in diagnostic mode, constrained by satellite and in situ geophysical data, we identify the nature of this potential instability. We demonstrate that the present-day spatial distribution and orientation of the principal stresses within Larsen C ice shelf are akin to those within pre-collapse Larsen B. When Larsen B’s stabilizing frontal portion was lost in 1995, the unstable remaining shelf accelerated, crumbled and ultimately collapsed. We hypothesize that Larsen C ice shelf may suffer a similar fate if it were not stabilized by warm and mechanically soft marine ice, entrained within narrow suture zones. Signs of instability in the Antarctic Larsen C ice shelf have raised concerns that it might soon collapse like its northern neighbour Larsen B. Kulessa et al. combine an ice-shelf model with satellite and geophysical data to show that despite dynamic similarities, Larsen C is presently stabilized by marine ice.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
content type line 14
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/ncomms4707