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Inland thinning of the Amundsen Sea sector, West Antarctica

Shepherd, A; Wingham, DJ; Mansley, JAD; (2002) Inland thinning of the Amundsen Sea sector, West Antarctica. Geophysical Research Letters , 29 (10) , Article 1364. 10.1029/2001GL014183. Green open access

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Abstract

[1] Together with the Pine Island glacier (PIG), the Thwaites (TG) and Smith (SG) glaciers are the principal drainage systems of the Amundsen Sea (AS) sector of Western Antarctica. Here we use satellite radar altimetry and interferometry to show that a rapid thinning of ice has occurred within the fastest flowing sections of all AS outlet glaciers. The pattern of thinning extends to distances greater than 150 km inland. Between 1991 and 2001, the TG and SG thinned by more than 25 and 45 m at their grounding lines, and a total of 154 +/- 16 km(3) of ice (or 0.43 mm of eustatic sea level rise) was lost from the AS sector glaciers to the ocean. We show that the thickness changes may have caused the PIG, TG, and SG to retreat inland by over 8, 4, and 7 km respectively, in line with independent estimates of grounding line migration.

Type: Article
Title: Inland thinning of the Amundsen Sea sector, West Antarctica
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1029/2001GL014183
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2001GL014183
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright 2002 by the American Geophysical Union
Keywords: Ice-sheet, Radar interferometry, Stream, Glacier, Motion
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Earth Sciences
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/99623
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