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The influence of subglacial lake discharge on Thwaites Glacier ice-shelf melting and grounding-line retreat
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L. Jakob ,
P. R. Holland ,
P. Dutrieux ,
D. Goldberg,
Suzanne Bevan ,
Adrian Luckman ,
G. Malczyk
Nature Communications, Volume: 16, Issue: 1
Swansea University Authors:
Suzanne Bevan , Adrian Luckman
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DOI (Published version): 10.1038/s41467-025-57417-1
Abstract
The retreat of the Antarctic Ice Sheet is conventionally attributed to increased ocean melting of ice shelves, potentially enhanced by internal instability from grounding lines near retrograde bed slopes. Ocean melting is enhanced by increased intrusion of modified Circumpolar Deep Water (mCDW) into...
| Published in: | Nature Communications |
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| ISSN: | 2041-1723 |
| Published: |
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
2025
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| Online Access: |
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa69491 |
| Abstract: |
The retreat of the Antarctic Ice Sheet is conventionally attributed to increased ocean melting of ice shelves, potentially enhanced by internal instability from grounding lines near retrograde bed slopes. Ocean melting is enhanced by increased intrusion of modified Circumpolar Deep Water (mCDW) into ice shelf cavities. Upwelling from the release of subglacial meltwater can enhance mCDW’s melting ability, though its efficacy is not well understood and is not represented in current ice sheet loss projections. Here we quantify this process during an exceptional subglacial lake drainage event under Thwaites Glacier. We found that the buoyant plume from the subglacial discharge temporarily doubled the rate of ocean melting under Thwaites, thinning the ice shelf. These events likely contributed to Thwaites’ rapid thinning and grounding line retreat during that period. However, simulations and observations indicate that a steady subglacial water release would more efficiently enhance basal melt rates at Thwaites, with melt rate increasing like the square root of the subglacial discharge. Thus, it remains unclear whether increased subglacial flooding events provide a stabilizing influence on West Antarctic ice loss by reducing the impact of subglacial water on ocean melting, or a destabilizing influence by triggering rapid changes at the grounding zone. |
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| College: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |
| Funders: |
N.G. and D.G. were supported by ESA’s 4DAntarctica’s project (4000128611/19/I-DT).
N.G. and L.J. were supported by ESA’s Polar+ Ice Shelves project (ESA-IPL-POE-EF-cb-LE-2019-834), the SO-ICE project (ESA AO/1−10461/20/I-NB) part of the ESA Polar Science Cluster.
N.G. and D.G. were supported by the PROPHET project and P.H. was supported by the MELT project, both components of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC) with support from National Science Foundation (NSF: Grant #1739031) and Natural Environment Research Council (NERC: Grants NE/S006745/1, NE/S006796/1, NE/T001607/1, and NE/S006656/1).
ITGC Contribution No. ITGC−143. Amundsen mooring observations are maintained by NERC/BAS under grant Ocean Forcing Ice Change NE/N062102. TanDEM-X data were provided by DLR through project GLAC0323. |
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1 |