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The influence of subglacial lake discharge on Thwaites Glacier ice-shelf melting and grounding-line retreat

N. Gourmelen Orcid Logo, L. Jakob Orcid Logo, P. R. Holland Orcid Logo, P. Dutrieux Orcid Logo, D. Goldberg, Suzanne Bevan Orcid Logo, Adrian Luckman Orcid Logo, G. Malczyk

Nature Communications, Volume: 16, Issue: 1

Swansea University Authors: Suzanne Bevan Orcid Logo, Adrian Luckman Orcid Logo

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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...

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Published in: Nature Communications
ISSN: 2041-1723
Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2025
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa69491
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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&#x2019;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&#x2019; 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. 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spelling 2025-06-13T14:02:56.6568084 v2 69491 2025-05-09 The influence of subglacial lake discharge on Thwaites Glacier ice-shelf melting and grounding-line retreat 758d19253522c8c306d4eea0e6e484f6 0000-0003-2649-2982 Suzanne Bevan Suzanne Bevan true false 008cb668b2671b653a88677f075799a9 0000-0002-9618-5905 Adrian Luckman Adrian Luckman true false 2025-05-09 BGPS 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. Journal Article Nature Communications 16 1 Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2041-1723 6 3 2025 2025-03-06 10.1038/s41467-025-57417-1 COLLEGE NANME Biosciences Geography and Physics School COLLEGE CODE BGPS Swansea University Another institution paid the OA fee 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. 2025-06-13T14:02:56.6568084 2025-05-09T16:46:33.0225179 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Geography N. Gourmelen 0000-0003-3346-9289 1 L. Jakob 0000-0001-5289-5932 2 P. R. Holland 0000-0001-8370-289x 3 P. Dutrieux 0000-0002-8066-934x 4 D. Goldberg 5 Suzanne Bevan 0000-0003-2649-2982 6 Adrian Luckman 0000-0002-9618-5905 7 G. Malczyk 8 69491__34235__f5a4d97dd8f14c08a7e2710b24fc6a5a.pdf 69491.pdf 2025-05-09T16:48:49.7982035 Output 1952010 application/pdf Version of Record true © The Author(s) 2025. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title The influence of subglacial lake discharge on Thwaites Glacier ice-shelf melting and grounding-line retreat
spellingShingle The influence of subglacial lake discharge on Thwaites Glacier ice-shelf melting and grounding-line retreat
Suzanne Bevan
Adrian Luckman
title_short The influence of subglacial lake discharge on Thwaites Glacier ice-shelf melting and grounding-line retreat
title_full The influence of subglacial lake discharge on Thwaites Glacier ice-shelf melting and grounding-line retreat
title_fullStr The influence of subglacial lake discharge on Thwaites Glacier ice-shelf melting and grounding-line retreat
title_full_unstemmed The influence of subglacial lake discharge on Thwaites Glacier ice-shelf melting and grounding-line retreat
title_sort The influence of subglacial lake discharge on Thwaites Glacier ice-shelf melting and grounding-line retreat
author_id_str_mv 758d19253522c8c306d4eea0e6e484f6
008cb668b2671b653a88677f075799a9
author_id_fullname_str_mv 758d19253522c8c306d4eea0e6e484f6_***_Suzanne Bevan
008cb668b2671b653a88677f075799a9_***_Adrian Luckman
author Suzanne Bevan
Adrian Luckman
author2 N. Gourmelen
L. Jakob
P. R. Holland
P. Dutrieux
D. Goldberg
Suzanne Bevan
Adrian Luckman
G. Malczyk
format Journal article
container_title Nature Communications
container_volume 16
container_issue 1
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
issn 2041-1723
doi_str_mv 10.1038/s41467-025-57417-1
publisher Springer Science and Business Media LLC
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Geography{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Geography
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description 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.
published_date 2025-03-06T05:24:04Z
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score 11.090009

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