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Thwaites Glacier represents 15% of the ice discharge from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and influences a wider catchment1-3. Because it is grounded below sea level4,5, Thwaites Glacier is thought to be susceptible to runaway retreat triggered at the grounding line (GL) at which the glacier reaches the ocean6,7. Recent ice-flow acceleration2,8 and retreat of the ice front8-10 and GL11,12 indicate that ice loss will continue. The relative impacts of mechanisms underlying recent retreat are however uncertain. Here we show sustained GL retreat from at least 2011 to 2020 and resolve mechanisms of ice-shelf melt at the submetre scale. Our conclusions are based on observations of the Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf (TEIS) from an underwater vehicle, extending from the GL to 3 km oceanward and from the ice-ocean interface to the sea floor. These observations show a rough ice base above a sea floor sloping upward towards the GL and an ocean cavity in which the warmest water exceeds 2 °C above freezing. Data closest to the ice base show that enhanced melting occurs along sloped surfaces that initiate near the GL and evolve into steep-sided terraces. This pronounced melting along steep ice faces, including in crevasses, produces stratification that suppresses melt along flat interfaces. These data imply that slope-dependent melting sculpts the ice base and acts as an important response to ocean warming.

The sudden propagation of a major preexisting rift (full-thickness crack) in late 2016 on the Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctica led to the calving of tabular iceberg A68 in July 2017, one of the largest icebergs on record, posing a threat for the stability of the remaining ice shelf. As with other ice shelves, the physical processes that led to the activation of the A68 rift and controlled its propagation have not been elucidated. Here, we model the response of the ice shelf stress balance to ice shelf thinning and thinning of the ice mélange encased in and around preexisting rifts. We find that ice shelf thinning does not reactivate the rifts, but heals them. In contrast, thinning of the mélange controls the opening rate of the rift, with an above-linear dependence on thinning. The simulations indicate that thinning of the ice mélange by 10 to 20 m is sufficient to reactivate the rifts and trigger a major calving event, thereby establishing a link between climate forcing and ice shelf retreat that has not been included in ice sheet models. Rift activation could initiate ice shelf retreat decades prior to hydrofracture caused by water ponding at the ice shelf surface.

While twentieth century sea-level rise was dominated by thermal expansion of ocean water, mass loss from glaciers and ice sheets is now a larger annual contributor. There is uncertainty on how ice sheets will respond to further warming, however, reducing confidence in twenty-first century sea-level projections. In 2019, to address the uncertainty, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported that sea-level rise from the 1950s levels would likely be within 0.61–1.10 m if warming exceeds 4°C by 2100. The IPCC acknowledged greater sea-level increases were possible through mechanisms not fully incorporated in models used in the assessment. In this perspective, we discuss challenges faced in projecting sea-level change and discuss why the IPCC's sea-level range for 2100 under strong warming is focused at the low end of possible outcomes. We argue outcomes above this range are far more probable than below it and discuss how decision makers may benefit from reframing IPCC's terminology to avoid unintentionally masking worst-case scenarios. There is great uncertainty on how polar ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica will respond to twenty-first century warming, reducing confidence in sea-level projections. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projects sea level in 2100 to be 0.61–1.10 m higher than 1950s levels under unabated greenhouse gas emissions. Here we explain why outcomes above this range are far more probable than below it and discuss how decision makers may benefit from reframing IPCC's terminology to avoid unintentionally masking worst-case scenarios.

We develop regionally optimized Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) solutions to evaluate the mass balance of the drainage basins of Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica, and Getz Ice Shelf, West Antarctica. We find that the Amery region is near balance, while the Getz region is rapidly losing mass. We compare the results with the mass budget method (MBM) combining ice discharge along the periphery with surface mass balance derived from three regional climate models: (1) Regional Atmospheric Climate Model (RACMO) 2.3p1 and (2) 2.3p2, and (3) Modèle Atmosphérique Régional 3.6.41. For Amery, MBM/RACMO2.3p1 agrees with GRACE, while MBM/RACMO2.3p2 and MBM/MAR3.6.41 suggest a positive mass balance. For Getz, all estimates agree with a mass loss and the GRACE results are robust to uncertainties in glacial isostatic adjustment derived from an ensemble 128,000 forward models. Over the period April 2002 to November 2015, the mass loss of the Getz drainage basin is 22.9 ± 10.9 Gt/yr with an acceleration of 1.6 ± 0.9 Gt/yr2.

The glaciers flowing into the Amundsen Sea Embayment, West Antarctica, have undergone acceleration and grounding line retreat over the past few decades that may yield an irreversible mass loss. Using a constellation of satellites, we detect the evolution of ice velocity, ice thinning, and grounding line retreat of Thwaites Glacier from 1992 to 2017. The results reveal a complex pattern of retreat and ice melt, with sectors retreating at 0.8 km/year and floating ice melting at 200 m/year, while others retreat at 0.3 km/year with ice melting 10 times slower. We interpret the results in terms of buoyancy/slope-driven seawater intrusion along preferential channels at tidal frequencies leading to more efficient melt in newly formed cavities. Such complexities in ice-ocean interaction are not currently represented in coupled ice sheet/ocean models.

The continuous and precise mapping of glacier calving fronts is essential for monitoring and understanding rapid glacier changes in Antarctica and Greenland, which have the potential for significant sea level rise within the current century. This effort has been mostly restricted to the slow and painstaking manual digitalization of the calving front positions in thousands of satellite imagery products. Here, we have developed a machine learning toolkit to automatically detect glacier calving front margins in satellite imagery. The toolkit is based on semantic image segmentation using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) with a modified U-Net architecture to isolate the calving fronts from satellite images after having been trained with a dataset of images and their corresponding manually-determined calving fronts. As a case study we train our neural network on a varied set of Landsat images with lowered resolutions from Jakobshavn, Sverdrup, and Kangerlussuaq glaciers, Greenland and test the results on images from Helheim glacier, Greenland to evaluate the performance of the approach. The neural network is able to identify the calving front in new images with a mean deviation of 96.3 m from the true fronts, equivalent to 1.97 pixels on average, while the corresponding error for manually-determined fronts on the same resolution images is 92.5 m (1.89 pixels). We find that the trained neural network significantly outperforms common edge detection techniques, and can be used to continuously map out calving-ice fronts with a variety of data products.

Totten and Moscow University glaciers, in the marine-based sector of East Antarctica, contain enough ice to raise sea level by 5 m. Obtaining precise measurements of their mass balance is challenging owing to large area of the basins and the small mass balance signal compared to West Antarctic glaciers. Here we employ a locally optimized processing of Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) harmonics to evaluate their mass balance at the sub-basin scale and compare the results with mass budget method (MBM) estimates using regional atmospheric climate model version 2.3 (RACMO2.3) or Modèle Atmosphérique Régional version 3.6.4 (MAR3.6.4). The sub-basin mass loss estimate for April 2002 to November 2015 is 14.8 ± 4.3 Gt/yr, which is weakly affected by glacial isostatic adjustment uncertainties (±1.4 Gt/yr). This result agrees with MBM/RACMO2.3 (15.8 ± 2.0 Gt/yr), whereas MBM/MAR3.6.4 underestimates the loss (6.6 ± 1.6 Gt/yr). For the entire drainage, the mass loss for April 2002 to August 2016 is 18.5 ± 6.6 Gt/yr, or 15 ± 4% of its ice flux. These results provide unequivocal evidence for mass loss in this East Antarctic sector.

The evolution of Greenland glaciers in a warming climate depends on their depth below sea level, flow speed, surface melt, and ocean-induced undercutting at the calving front. We present an innovative mapping of bed topography in the frontal regions of Sermeq Avannarleq and Kujalleq, two major glaciers flowing into the ice-choked Torssukatak Fjord, central west Greenland. The mapping combines a mass conservation algorithm inland, multibeam echo sounding data in the fjord, and high-resolution airborne gravity data at the ice-ocean transition where other approaches have traditionally failed. We obtain a reliable, precision (±40 m) solution for bed topography across the ice-ocean boundary. The results reveal a 700 m deep fjord that abruptly ends on a 100-300 m deep sill along the calving fronts. The shallow sills explain the presence of stranded icebergs, the resilience of the glaciers to ocean-induced undercutting by warm Atlantic water, and their remarkable stability over the past century.

We employ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)'s Operation IceBridge high-resolution airborne gravity from 2016, NASA's Ocean Melting Greenland bathymetry from 2015, ice thickness from Operation IceBridge from 2010 to 2015, and BedMachine v3 to analyze 20 major southeast Greenland glaciers. The results reveal glacial fjords several hundreds of meters deeper than previously thought; the full extent of the marine-based portions of the glaciers; deep troughs enabling warm, salty Atlantic Water (AW) to reach the glacier fronts and melt them from below; and few shallow sills that limit the access of AW. The new oceanographic and topographic data help to fully resolve the complex pattern of historical ice front positions from the 1930s to 2017: glaciers exposed to AW and resting on retrograde beds have retreated rapidly, while glaciers perched on shallow sills or standing in colder waters or with major sills in the fjords have remained stable.

Greenland's bed topography is a primary control on ice flow, grounding line migration, calving dynamics, and subglacial drainage. Moreover, fjord bathymetry regulates the penetration of warm Atlantic water (AW) that rapidly melts and undercuts Greenland's marine-terminating glaciers. Here we present a new compilation of Greenland bed topography that assimilates seafloor bathymetry and ice thickness data through a mass conservation approach. A new 150 m horizontal resolution bed topography/bathymetric map of Greenland is constructed with seamless transitions at the ice/ocean interface, yielding major improvements over previous data sets, particularly in the marine-terminating sectors of northwest and southeast Greenland. Our map reveals that the total sea level potential of the Greenland ice sheet is 7.42 ± 0.05 m, which is 7 cm greater than previous estimates. Furthermore, it explains recent calving front response of numerous outlet glaciers and reveals new pathways by which AW can access glaciers with marine-based basins, thereby highlighting sectors of Greenland that are most vulnerable to future oceanic forcing.

Thwaites Glacier (TG), West Antarctica, has been losing mass and retreating rapidly in the past few decades. Here, we present a study of its calving dynamics combining a two-dimensional flow-band full-Stokes (FS) model of its viscous flow with linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) theory to model crevasse propagation and ice fracturing. We compare the results with those obtained with the higher-order (HO) and the shallow-shelf approximation (SSA) models coupled with LEFM. We find that FS/LEFM produces surface and bottom crevasses that are consistent with the distribution of depth and width of surface and bottom crevasses observed by NASA's Operation IceBridge radar depth sounder and laser altimeter, whereas HO/LEFM and SSA/LEFM do not generate crevasses that are consistent with observations. We attribute the difference to the nonhydrostatic condition of ice near the grounding line, which facilitates crevasse formation and is accounted for by the FS model but not by the HO or SSA models. We find that calving is enhanced when pre-existing surface crevasses are present, when the ice shelf is shortened or when the ice shelf front is undercut. The role of undercutting depends on the timescale of calving events. It is more prominent for glaciers with rapid calving rates than for glaciers with slow calving rates. Glaciers extending into a shorter ice shelf are more vulnerable to calving than glaciers developing a long ice shelf, especially as the ice front retreats close to the grounding line region, which leads to a positive feedback to calving events. We conclude that the FS/LEFM combination yields substantial improvements in capturing the stress field near the grounding line of a glacier for constraining crevasse formation and iceberg calving.

We employ airborne gravity data from NASA's Operation IceBridge collected in 2009–2014 to infer the bathymetry of sub–ice shelf cavities in front of Pine Island, Thwaites, Smith, and Kohler glaciers, West Antarctica. We use a three-dimensional inversion constrained by multibeam echo sounding data offshore and bed topography from a mass conservation reconstruction on land. The seamless bed elevation data refine details of the Pine Island sub–ice shelf cavity, a slightly thinner cavity beneath Thwaites, and previously unknown deep (>1200 m) channels beneath the Crosson and Dotson ice shelves that shallow (500 m and 750 m, respectively) near the ice shelf fronts. These sub–ice shelf channels define the natural pathways for warm, circumpolar deep water to reach the glacier grounding lines, melt the ice shelves from below, and constrain the pattern of past and future glacial retreat.

Identifying fast and robust numerical solvers is a critical issue that needs to be addressed in order to improve projections of polar ice sheets evolving in a changing climate. This work evaluates the impact of using advanced numerical solvers for transient ice-flow simulations conducted with the JPL-UCI Ice Sheet System Model (ISSM). We identify optimal numerical solvers by testing a broad suite of readily available solvers, ranging from direct sparse solvers to preconditioned iterative methods, on the commonly used Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project for Higher-Order ice sheet Models benchmark tests. Three types of analyses are considered: mass transport, horizontal stress balance, and incompressibility. The results of the fastest solvers for each analysis type are ranked based on their scalability across mesh size and basal boundary conditions. We find that the fastest iterative solvers are ĝ1/4ĝ€1.5-100 times faster than the default direct solver used in ISSM, with speed-ups improving rapidly with increased mesh resolution. We provide a set of recommendations for users in search of efficient solvers to use for transient ice-flow simulations, enabling higher-resolution meshes and faster turnaround time. The end result will be improved transient simulations for short-term, highly resolved forward projections (10-100 year time scale) and also improved long-term paleo-reconstructions using higher-order representations of stresses in the ice. This analysis will also enable a new generation of comprehensive uncertainty quantification assessments of forward sea-level rise projections, which rely heavily on ensemble or sampling approaches that are inherently expensive.

Melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet has the potential to raise sea level by 7.36 m and is already contributing to global sea level rise at a rate higher than 1 mm yr–1. Computer models are our best tools to make projections of the mass balance of Greenland over the next centuries, but these models rely on bed topography data that remain poorly constrained near glacier termini. Accurate bed topography in the vicinity of calving fronts is critical for numerical models, as the shapes of the glacier bed and of the nearby bathymetry control both the ocean circulation in the fjord and the stability and response of the ice sheet to climate warming. NASA’s Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) mission is collecting bathymetry data along Greenland fjords at several glacier termini. Here, we show that these measurements are transforming our knowledge of fjord and glacier depths. Using a mass conservation approach, we combine OMG bathymetry with observations of ice velocity and thickness to produce estimates of bed depth and ice thickness across the ice-ocean boundary with unprecedented accuracy and reliability. Our results along the northwest coast of Greenland reveal complex structural features in bed elevation, such as valleys, ridges, bumps, and hollows. These features have important implications for both channeling ice flow toward the continental margin, and for controlling the amount of warm, salty Atlantic Water that reaches the glaciers.

Basal sliding is a main control on glacier flow primarily driven by water pressure at the glacier base. The ongoing increase in surface melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet warrants an examination of its impact on basal water pressure and in turn on basal sliding. Here we examine the case of Russell Glacier, in West Greenland, where an extensive set of observations has been collected. These observations suggest that the recent increase in melt has had an equivocal impact on the annual velocity, with stable flow on the lower part of the drainage basin but accelerated flow above the Equilibrium Line Altitude (ELA). These distinct behaviors have been attributed to different evolutions of the subglacial draining system during and after the melt season. Here we use a high-resolution subglacial hydrological model forced by reconstructed surface runoff for the period 2008 to 2012 to investigate the cause of these distinct behaviors. We find that the increase in meltwater production at low elevation yields a more efficient drainage system compatible with the observed stagnation of the mean annual flow below the ELA. At higher elevation, the model indicates that the drainage system is mostly inefficient and is therefore strongly sensitive to an increase in meltwater availability, which is consistent with the observed increase in ice velocity.

We employ Sentinel-1a C band satellite radar interferometry data in Terrain Observation with Progressive Scans mode to map the grounding line and ice velocity of Pope, Smith, and Kohler glaciers, in West Antarctica, for the years 2014–2016 and compare the results with those obtained using Earth Remote Sensing Satellites (ERS-1/2) in 1992, 1996, and 2011. We observe an ongoing, rapid grounding line retreat of Smith at 2 km/yr (40 km since 1996), an 11 km retreat of Pope (0.5 km/yr), and a 2 km readvance of Kohler since 2011. The variability in glacier retreat is consistent with the distribution of basal slopes, i.e., fast along retrograde beds and slow along prograde beds. We find that several pinning points holding Dotson and Crosson ice shelves disappeared since 1996 due to ice shelf thinning, which signal the ongoing weakening of these ice shelves. Overall, the results indicate that ice shelf and glacier retreat in this sector remain unabated.

High-resolution, three-dimensional simulations from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology general circulation model ocean model are used to calculate the subaqueous melt rate of the calving faces of Umiamako, Rinks, Kangerdlugssup, Store, and Kangilerngata glaciers, west Greenland, from 1992 to 2015. Model forcing is from monthly reconstructions of ocean state and ice sheet runoff. Results are analyzed in combination with observations of bathymetry, bed elevation, ice front retreat, and glacier speed. We calculate that subaqueous melt rates are 2–3 times larger in summer compared to winter and doubled in magnitude since the 1990s due to enhanced subglacial runoff and 1.6 ± 0.3°C warmer ocean temperature. Umiamako and Kangilerngata retreated rapidly in the 2000s when subaqueous melt rates exceeded the calving rates and ice front retreated to deeper bed elevation. In contrast, Store, Kangerdlugssup, and Rinks have remained stable because their subaqueous melt rates are 3–4 times lower than their calving rates, i.e., the glaciers are dominated by calving processes.

Marine-terminating glaciers play a critical role in controlling Greenland's ice sheet mass balance. Their frontal margins interact vigorously with the ocean, but our understanding of this interaction is limited, in part, by a lack of bathymetry data. Here we present a multibeam echo sounding survey of 14 glacial fjords in the Uummannaq and Vaigat fjords, west Greenland, which extends from the continental shelf to the glacier fronts. The data reveal valleys with shallow sills, overdeepenings (>1300 m) from glacial erosion, and seafloor depths 100-1000 m deeper than in existing charts. Where fjords are deep enough, we detect the pervasive presence of warm, salty Atlantic Water (AW) (>2.5°C) with high melt potential, but we also find numerous glaciers grounded on shallow (

Glacier-front dynamics is an important control on Greenland's ice mass balance. Warmer ocean waters trigger ice-front retreats of marine-terminating glaciers, and the corresponding loss in resistive stress leads to glacier acceleration and thinning. Here we present an approach to quantify the sensitivity and vulnerability of marine-terminating glaciers to ocean-induced melt. We develop a plan view model of Store Gletscher that includes a level set-based moving boundary capability, a parameterized ocean-induced melt, and a calving law with complete and precise land and fjord topographies to model the response of the glacier to increased melt. We find that the glacier is stabilized by a sill at its terminus. The glacier is dislodged from the sill when ocean-induced melt quadruples, at which point the glacier retreats irreversibly for 27 km into a reverse bed. The model suggests that ice-ocean interactions are the triggering mechanism of glacier retreat, but the bed controls its magnitude.

We use numerical climate simulations, paleoclimate data, and modern observations to study the effect of growing ice melt from Antarctica and Greenland. Meltwater tends to stabilize the ocean column, inducing amplifying feedbacks that increase subsurface ocean warming and ice shelf melting. Cold meltwater and induced dynamical effects cause ocean surface cooling in the Southern Ocean and North Atlantic, thus increasing Earth's energy imbalance and heat flux into most of the global ocean's surface. Southern Ocean surface cooling, while lower latitudes are warming, increases precipitation on the Southern Ocean, increasing ocean stratification, slowing deepwater formation, and increasing ice sheet mass loss. These feedbacks make ice sheets in contact with the ocean vulnerable to accelerating disintegration. We hypothesize that ice mass loss from the most vulnerable ice, sufficient to raise sea level several meters, is better approximated as exponential than by a more linear response. Doubling times of 10, 20 or 40 years yield multi-meter sea level rise in about 50, 100 or 200 years. Recent ice melt doubling times are near the lower end of the 10-40-year range, but the record is too short to confirm the nature of the response. The feedbacks, including subsurface ocean warming, help explain paleoclimate data and point to a dominant Southern Ocean role in controlling atmospheric CO2, which in turn exercised tight control on global temperature and sea level. The millennial (500-2000-year) timescale of deep-ocean ventilation affects the timescale for natural CO2 change and thus the timescale for paleo-global climate, ice sheet, and sea level changes, but this paleo-millennial timescale should not be misinterpreted as the timescale for ice sheet response to a rapid, large, human-made climate forcing. These climate feedbacks aid interpretation of events late in the prior interglacial, when sea level rose to +6-9 m with evidence of extreme storms while Earth was less than 1 °C warmer than today. Ice melt cooling of the North Atlantic and Southern oceans increases atmospheric temperature gradients, eddy kinetic energy and baroclinicity, thus driving more powerful storms. The modeling, paleoclimate evidence, and ongoing observations together imply that 2 °C global warming above the preindustrial level could be dangerous. Continued high fossil fuel emissions this century are predicted to yield (1) cooling of the Southern Ocean, especially in the Western Hemisphere; (2) slowing of the Southern Ocean overturning circulation, warming of the ice shelves, and growing ice sheet mass loss; (3) slowdown and eventual shutdown of the Atlantic overturning circulation with cooling of the North Atlantic region; (4) increasingly powerful storms; and (5) nonlinearly growing sea level rise, reaching several meters over a timescale of 50-150 years. These predictions, especially the cooling in the Southern Ocean and North Atlantic with markedly reduced warming or even cooling in Europe, differ fundamentally from existing climate change assessments. We discuss observations and modeling studies needed to refute or clarify these assertions.

The increasing contribution of the Antarctic Ice Sheet to sea level rise is linked to reductions in ice shelf buttressing, driven in large part by basal melting of ice shelves. These ocean-driven buttressing losses are being compounded as ice shelves weaken and fracture. To date, model projections of ice sheet evolution have not accounted for weakening ice shelves. Here we present the first constitutive framework for ice deformation that explicitly includes mechanical weakening, based on observations of the progressive degradation of the remnant Larsen B Ice Shelf from 2000 to 2015. We implement this framework in an ice sheet model and are able to reproduce most of the observed weakening of the ice shelf. In addition to predicting ice shelf weakening and reduced buttressing, this new framework opens the door for improved understanding and predictions of iceberg calving, meltwater routing and hydrofracture, and ice shelf collapse.

We employ high-resolution, high-precision, helicopter-borne gravity observations of the Northern (NPI) and Southern Patagonia Icefields (SPI), South America, to infer ice thickness and bed topography using a three-dimensional model constrained by Fjord and lake bathymetry, and a land-ice mask. The results reveal thicker ice than the reflecting horizon of radar sounders, with 1 km deep ice for Glaciar San Rafael and Colonia (NPI) and 1.5 km deep ice for Glaciar Occidental (SPI). These bedrock troughs channelize fast motion of ice from the plateaus. Combining ice motion and thickness, we calculate balance accumulation levels of 3–6 m/yr water equivalent for the plateaus. Bed elevation remains below sea/lake level 15–20 km inland for Jorge Montt and O’Higgins, which favors retreat, and is at sea level for San Rafael, which halted its retreat. The results demonstrate the utility of airborne gravity surveys for providing critical data on ice volume, bed elevation, and balance accumulation of temperate ice masses.

Supraglacial lakes (SGLs) form annually on the Greenland ice sheet and, when they drain, their discharge enhances ice-sheet flow by lubricating the base and potentially by warming the ice. Today, SGLs tend to form within the ablation zone, where enhanced lubrication is offset by efficient subglacial drainage. However, it is not clear what impact a warming climate will have on this arrangement. Here, we use an SGL initiation and growth model to show that lakes form at higher altitudes as temperatures rise, consistent with satellite observations. Our simulations show that in southwest Greenland, SGLs spread 103 and 110 km further inland by the year 2060 under moderate (RCP 4.5) and extreme (RCP 8.5) climate change scenarios, respectively, leading to an estimated 48-53% increase in the area over which they are distributed across the ice sheet as a whole. Up to half of these new lakes may be large enough to drain, potentially delivering water and heat to the ice-sheet base in regions where subglacial drainage is inefficient. In such places, ice flow responds positively to increases in surface water delivered to the bed through enhanced basal lubrication and warming of the ice, and so the inland advance of SGLs should be considered in projections of ice-sheet change.

After 8 years of decay of its ice shelf, Zachariæ Isstrøm, a major glacier of northeast Greenland that holds a 0.5-meter sea-level rise equivalent, entered a phase of accelerated retreat in fall 2012. The acceleration rate of its ice velocity tripled, melting of its residual ice shelf and thinning of its grounded portion doubled, and calving is now occurring at its grounding line. Warmer air and ocean temperatures have caused the glacier to detach from a stabilizing sill and retreat rapidly along a downward-sloping, marine-based bed. Its equal-ice-volume neighbor, Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden, is also melting rapidly but retreating slowly along an upward-sloping bed. The destabilization of this marine-based sector will increase sea-level rise from the Greenland Ice Sheet for decades to come.

Totten Glacier, East Antarctica, a glacier that holds a 3.9 m sea level change equivalent, has thinned and lost mass for decades. We map its grounding line positions in 1996 and 2013 using differential radar interferometry (InSAR) data and develop precise, high-resolution topographies of its ice surface and ice draft using NASA Operation IceBridge data, InSAR data, and a mass conservation method. We detect a 1 to 3 km retreat of the grounding line in 17 years. The retreat is asymmetrical along a two-lobe pattern, where ice is only grounded a few 10 m above sea level, or ice plain, which may unground further with only modest amounts of ice thinning. The pattern of retreat indicates ice thinning of 12 m in 17 years or 0.7±0.1 m/yr at the grounding line on average. Sustained thinning will cause further grounding line retreat but may not be conducive to a marine instability. Key Points Grounding line of Totten Glacier is retreating, not as fast as West Antarctica Retreat pattern explained by the newly inferred bed geometry If ice thinning maintains, bed geometry conducive to further retreat

Following the 2002 disintegration of the northern and central parts of the Larsen B Ice Shelf, the tributary glaciers of the southern surviving part initially appeared relatively unchanged and hence assumed to be buttressed sufficiently by the remnant ice shelf. Here, we modify this perception with observations from IceBridge altimetry and InSAR-inferred ice flow speeds. Our analyses show that the surfaces of Leppard and Flask glaciers directly upstream from their grounding lines lowered by 15 to 20 m in the period 2002-2011. The thinning appears to be dynamic as the flow of both glaciers and the remnant ice shelf accelerated in the same period. Flask Glacier started accelerating even before the 2002 disintegration, increasing its flow speed by ~55% between 1997 and 2012. Starbuck Glacier meanwhile did not change much. We hypothesize that the different evolutions of the three glaciers are related to their dissimilar bed topographies and degrees of grounding. We apply numerical modeling and data assimilation that show these changes to be accompanied by a reduction in the buttressing afforded by the remnant ice shelf, a weakening of the shear zones between its flow units and an increase in its fracture. The fast flowing northwestern part of the remnant ice shelf exhibits increasing fragmentation, while the stagnant southeastern part seems to be prone to the formation of large rifts, some of which we show have delimited successive calving events. A large rift only 12 km downstream from the grounding line is currently traversing the stagnant part of the ice shelf, defining the likely front of the next large calving event. We propose that the flow acceleration, ice front retreat and enhanced fracture of the remnant Larsen B Ice Shelf presage its approaching demise.

We present the first comprehensive high-resolution mosaic of ice velocity of the Northern (NPI) and Southern Patagonian Icefields (SPI), from multiple synthetic aperture radar and optical data collected between 1984 and 2014. The results reveal that many of the outlet glaciers extend far into the central ice plateaus, which implies that changes in ice dynamics propagate far inside the accumulation area. We report pronounced seasonal to interannual variability of ice motion on Pío XI and Jorge Montt, a doubling in speed of Jorge Montt, a major slow down of O'Higgins, significant fluctuations of Upsala and a deceleration of San Rafael, which illustrate the need for sustained, continuous time series of ice motion to understand the long-term evolution of the rapidly thinning icefields. The velocity product also resolves major ambiguities in glacier drainage in areas of relatively flat topography illustrating the need to combine topography and flow direction to map drainage basins.

We present surface mass balance simulations of the Southern Patagonia Icefield (SPI) driven by downscaled reanalysis data. The simulations were evaluated and interpreted using geodetic mass balances, measured point balances and a complete velocity field of the icefield for spring 2004. The high measured accumulation of snow of up to 15.4 m w.e. yrg'1 (meters water equivalent per year) as well as the high measured ablation of up to 11 m w.e. yrg'1 is reproduced by the model. The overall modeled surface mass balance was positive and increasing during 1975-2011. Subtracting the surface mass balance from geodetic balances, calving fluxes were inferred. Mass losses of the SPI due to calving were strongly increasing from 1975-2000 to 2000-2011 and higher than losses due to surface melt. Calving fluxes were inferred for the individual glacier catchments and compared to fluxes estimated from velocity data. Measurements of ice thickness and flow velocities at the glaciers' front and spatially distributed accumulation measurements can help to reduce the uncertainties of the different terms in the mass balance of the Southern Patagonia Icefield.

We compare four independent estimates of the mass balance of the Amundsen Sea Embayment of West Antarctica, an area experiencing rapid retreat and mass loss to the sea. We use ICESat and Operation IceBridge laser altimetry, Envisat radar altimetry, GRACE time-variable gravity, RACMO2.3 surface mass balance, ice velocity from imaging radars, and ice thickness from radar sounders. The four methods agree in terms of mass loss and acceleration in loss at the regional scale. Over 1992-2013, the mass loss is 83 ± 5 Gt/yr with an acceleration of 6.1 ± 0.7 Gt/yr2. During the common period 2003-2009, the mass loss is 84 ± 10 Gt/yr with an acceleration of 16.3 ± 5.6 Gt/yr2, nearly 3 times the acceleration over 1992-2013. Over 2003-2011, the mass loss is 102 ± 10 Gt/yr with an acceleration of 15.7 ± 4.0 Gt/yr2. The results reconcile independent mass balance estimates in a setting dominated by change in ice dynamics with significant variability in surface mass balance.

We present a new data assimilation method within the Ice Sheet System Model (ISSM) framework that is capable of assimilating surface altimetry data from missions such as ICESat (Ice Cloud and land Elevation Satellite) into reconstructions of transient ice flow. The new method relies on algorithmic differentiation to compute gradients of objective functions with respect to model forcings. It is applied to the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream, where surface mass balance and basal friction forcings are temporally inverted, resulting in adjusted modeled surface heights that best fit existing altimetry. This new approach allows for a better quantification of basal and surface processes and a better understanding of the physical processes currently missing in transient ice-flow models to better capture the important intra- and interannual variability in surface altimetry. It also demonstrates that large spatial and temporal variability is required in model forcings such as surface mass balance and basal friction, variability that can only be explained by including more complex processes such as snowpack compaction at the surface and basal hydrology at the bottom of the ice sheet. This approach is indeed a first step towards assimilating the wealth of high spatial resolution altimetry data available from EnviSat, ICESat, Operation IceBridge and CryoSat-2, and that which will be available in the near future with the launch of ICESat-2.

Modeling of grounding line migration is essential to accurately simulate the behavior of marine ice sheets and investigate their stability. Here, we assess the sensitivity of numerical models to the parameterization of the grounding line position. We run the MISMIP3D benchmark experiments using the Ice Sheet System Model (ISSM) and a two-dimensional shelfy-stream approximation (SSA) model with different mesh resolutions and different sub-element parameterizations of grounding line position. Results show that different grounding line parameterizations lead to different steady state grounding line positions as well as different retreat/advance rates. Our simulations explain why some vertically depth-averaged model simulations deviate significantly from the vast majority of simulations based on SSA in the MISMIP3D benchmark. The results reveal that differences between simulations performed with and without sub-element parameterization are as large as those performed with different approximations of the stress balance equations in this configuration. They also demonstrate that the reversibility test is passed at relatively coarse resolution while much finer resolutions are needed to accurately capture the steady-state grounding line position. We conclude that fixed grid SSA models that do not employ such a parameterization should be avoided, as they do not provide accurate estimates of grounding line dynamics, even at high spatial resolution. For models that include sub-element grounding line parameterization, in the MISMIP3D configuration, a mesh resolution finer than 2 km should be employed.

This study evaluates the impact of a recent upgrade in the physics package of the regional atmospheric climate model RACMO2 on the simulated surface mass balance (SMB) of the Antarctic ice sheet. The modelled SMB increases, in particular over the grounded ice sheet of East Antarctica (+44Gt a-1), with a small change in West Antarctica. This mainly results from an increase in precipitation, which is explained by changes in the cloud microphysics, including a new parameterization for ice cloud supersaturation, and changes in large-scale circulation patterns, which alter topographically forced precipitation. The spatial changes in SMB are evaluated using 3234 in situ SMB observations and ice-balance velocities, and the temporal variability using GRACE satellite retrievals. The in situ observations and balance velocities show a clear improvement of the spatial representation of the SMB in the interior of East Antarctica, which has become considerably wetter. No improvements are seen for West Antarctica and the coastal regions. A comparison of model SMB temporal variability with GRACE satellite retrievals shows no significant change in performance.

Pine Island Glacier, a major contributor to sea level rise in West Antarctica, has been undergoing significant changes over the last few decades. Here, we employ a three-dimensional, higher-order model to simulate its evolution over the next 50 yr in response to changes in its surface mass balance, the position of its calving front and ocean-induced ice shelf melting. Simulations show that the largest climatic impact on ice dynamics is the rate of ice shelf melting, which rapidly affects the glacier speed over several hundreds of kilometers upstream of the grounding line. Our simulations show that the speedup observed in the 1990s and 2000s is consistent with an increase in sub-ice-shelf melting. According to our modeling results, even if the grounding line stabilizes for a few decades, we find that the glacier reaction can continue for several decades longer. Furthermore, Pine Island Glacier will continue to change rapidly over the coming decades and remain a major contributor to sea level rise, even if ocean-induced melting is reduced.

Ice shelves play a major role in buttressing ice sheet flow into the ocean, hence the importance of accurate numerical modeling of their stress regime. Commonly used ice flow models assume a continuous medium and are therefore complicated by the presence of rupture features (crevasses, rifts, and faults) that significantly affect the overall flow patterns. Here we apply contact mechanics and penalty methods to develop a new ice shelf flow model that captures the impact of rifts and faults on the rheology and stress distribution of ice shelves. The model achieves a best fit solution to satellite observations of ice shelf velocities to infer the following: (1) a spatial distribution of contact and friction points along detected faults and rifts, (2) a more realistic spatial pattern of ice shelf rheology, and (3) a better representation of the stress balance in the immediate vicinity of faults and rifts. Thus, applying the model to the Brunt/Stancomb-Wills Ice Shelf, Antarctica, we quantify the state of friction inside faults and the opening rates of rifts and obtain an ice shelf rheology that remains relatively constant everywhere else on the ice shelf. We further demonstrate that better stress representation has widespread application in examining aspects affecting ice shelf structure and dynamics including the extent of ice mélange in rifts and the change in fracture configurations. All are major applications for better insight into the important question of ice shelf stability.

Ice shelves play a major role in buttressing ice sheet flow into the ocean, hence the importance of accurate numerical modeling of their stress regime. Commonly used ice flow models assume a continuous medium and are therefore complicated by the presence of rupture features (crevasses, rifts, and faults) that significantly affect the overall flow patterns. Here we apply contact mechanics and penalty methods to develop a new ice shelf flow model that captures the impact of rifts and faults on the rheology and stress distribution of ice shelves. The model achieves a best fit solution to satellite observations of ice shelf velocities to infer the following: (1) a spatial distribution of contact and friction points along detected faults and rifts, (2) a more realistic spatial pattern of ice shelf rheology, and (3) a better representation of the stress balance in the immediate vicinity of faults and rifts. Thus, applying the model to the Brunt/Stancomb-Wills Ice Shelf, Antarctica, we quantify the state of friction inside faults and the opening rates of rifts and obtain an ice shelf rheology that remains relatively constant everywhere else on the ice shelf. We further demonstrate that better stress representation has widespread application in examining aspects affecting ice shelf structure and dynamics including the extent of ice mélange in rifts and the change in fracture configurations. All are major applications for better insight into the important question of ice shelf stability.

© 2015 Elsevier B.V. Following the 2002 disintegration of the northern and central parts of the Larsen B Ice Shelf, the tributary glaciers of the southern surviving part initially appeared relatively unchanged and hence assumed to be buttressed sufficiently by the remnant ice shelf. Here, we modify this perception with observations from IceBridge altimetry and InSAR-inferred ice flow speeds. Our analyses show that the surfaces of Leppard and Flask glaciers directly upstream from their grounding lines lowered by 15 to 20 m in the period 2002-2011. The thinning appears to be dynamic as the flow of both glaciers and the remnant ice shelf accelerated in the same period. Flask Glacier started accelerating even before the 2002 disintegration, increasing its flow speed by ~55% between 1997 and 2012. Starbuck Glacier meanwhile did not change much. We hypothesize that the different evolutions of the three glaciers are related to their dissimilar bed topographies and degrees of grounding. We apply numerical modeling and data assimilation that show these changes to be accompanied by a reduction in the buttressing afforded by the remnant ice shelf, a weakening of the shear zones between its flow units and an increase in its fracture. The fast flowing northwestern part of the remnant ice shelf exhibits increasing fragmentation, while the stagnant southeastern part seems to be prone to the formation of large rifts, some of which we show have delimited successive calving events. A large rift only 12 km downstream from the grounding line is currently traversing the stagnant part of the ice shelf, defining the likely front of the next large calving event. We propose that the flow acceleration, ice front retreat and enhanced fracture of the remnant Larsen B Ice Shelf presage its approaching demise.

Ocean waters melt the margins of Antarctic and Greenland glaciers, and individual glaciers' responses and the integrity of their ice shelves are expected to depend on the spatial distribution of melt. The bases of the ice shelves associated with Pine Island Glacier (West Antarctica) and Petermann Glacier (Greenland) have similar geometries, including kilometer-wide, hundreds-of-meter high channels oriented along and across the direction of ice flow. The channels are enhanced by, and constrain, oceanic melt. New meter-scale observations of basal topography reveal peculiar glaciated landscapes. Channel flanks are not smooth, but are instead stepped, with hundreds-of-meters-wide flat terraces separated by 5-50m high walls. Melting is shown to be modulated by the geometry: constant across each terrace, changing from one terrace to the next, and greatly enhanced on the ∼45° inclined walls. Melting is therefore fundamentally heterogeneous and likely associated with stratification in the ice-ocean boundary layer, challenging current models of ice shelf-ocean interactions. Key Points Basal topography of melting ice shelves is complex Basal terraces appear ubiquitous under melting ice shelves Melting concentrates on walls between terraces © 2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

The grounding line is a key element of coastal outlet glaciers, acting on their dynamics. Accurately knowing its position is fundamental for both modelling the glacier dynamics and establishing a benchmark for later change detection. Here we map the grounding line of the Astrolabe Glacier in East Antarctica (66°41' S, 140°05' E), using both hydrostatic and tidal methods. The first method is based on new surface and ice thickness data from which the line of buoyant floatation is found. The second method uses kinematic GPS measurements of the tidal response of the ice surface. By detecting the transitions where the ice starts to move vertically in response to the tidal forcing we determine control points for the grounding line position along GPS profiles. Employing a two-dimensional elastic plate model, we compute the rigid short-term behaviour of the ice plate and estimate the correction required to compare the kinematic GPS control points with the previously determined line of floatation. These two approaches show consistency and lead us to propose a grounding line for the Astrolabe Glacier that significantly deviates from the lines obtained so far from satellite imagery. © Author(s) 2014. CC Attribution 3.0 License.

The bed topography beneath the Greenland ice sheet controls the flow of ice and its discharge into the ocean. Outlet glaciers move through a set of narrow valleys whose detailed geometry is poorly known, especially along the southern coasts1-3. As a result, the contribution of the Greenland ice sheet and its glaciers to sea-level change in the coming century is uncertain. Here, we combine sparse ice-thickness data derived from airborne radar soundings with satellite-derived high-resolution ice motion data through a mass conservation optimization scheme5. We infer ice thickness and bed topography along the entire periphery of the Greenland ice sheet at an unprecedented level of spatial detail and precision. We detect widespread ice-covered valleys that extend significantly deeper below sea level and farther inland than previously thought. Our findings imply that the outlet glaciers of Greenland, and the ice sheet as a whole, are probably more vulnerable to ocean thermal forcing and peripheral thinning than inferred previously from existing numerical ice-sheet models. © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited.

We measure the grounding line retreat of glaciers draining the Amundsen Sea sector of West Antarctica using Earth Remote Sensing (ERS-1/2) satellite radar interferometry from 1992 to 2011. Pine Island Glacier retreated 31 km at its center, with most retreat in 2005-2009 when the glacier ungrounded from its ice plain. Thwaites Glacier retreated 14 km along its fast flow core and 1 to 9 km along the sides. Haynes Glacier retreated 10 km along its flanks. Smith/Kohler glaciers retreated the most, 35 km along its ice plain, and its ice shelf pinning points are vanishing. These rapid retreats proceed along regions of retrograde bed elevation mapped at a high spatial resolution using a mass conservation technique that removes residual ambiguities from prior mappings. Upstream of the 2011 grounding line positions, we find no major bed obstacle that would prevent the glaciers from further retreat and draw down the entire basin. © 2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

We combine measurements of ice velocity from Landsat feature tracking and satellite radar interferometry, and ice thickness from existing compilations to document 41 years of mass flux from the Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE) of West Antarctica. The total ice discharge has increased by 77% since 1973. Half of the increase occurred between 2003 and 2009. Grounding-line ice speeds of Pine Island Glacier stabilized between 2009 and 2013, following a decade of rapid acceleration, but that acceleration reached far inland and occurred at a rate faster than predicted by advective processes. Flow speeds across Thwaites Glacier increased rapidly after 2006, following a decade of near-stability, leading to a 33% increase in flux between 2006 and 2013. Haynes, Smith, Pope, and Kohler Glaciers all accelerated during the entire study period. The sustained increase in ice discharge is a possible indicator of the development of a marine ice sheet instability in this part of Antarctica. Key Points Sustained ASE mass flux increase: 77% since 1973 Thwaites accelerated by 33% during the last 6 years Speed changes are pervasive and rapid: major implications for ice flow modeling ©2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

Ice shelf fractures frequently terminate where they encounter suture zones, regions of material heterogeneity that form between meteoric inflows in ice shelves. This heterogeneity can consist of marine ice, meteoric ice with modified rheological properties, or the presence of fractures. Here, we use radar observations on the Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctica, to investigate (i) the termination of a 25 km long rift in the Churchill Peninsula suture zone, which was found to contain ~60 m of accreted marine ice, and (ii) the along-flow evolution of a suture zone originating at Cole Peninsula. We determine a steady state field of basal melting/freezing rates and apply it to a flowline model to delineate the along-flow evolution of layers within the ice shelf. The thickening surface wedge of locally accumulated meteoric ice, which likely has limited lateral variation in its mechanical properties, accounts for ~60% of the total ice thickness near the calving front. Thus, we infer that the lower ~40% of the ice column and the material heterogeneities present there are responsible for resisting fracture propagation and thereby delaying tabular calving events, as demonstrated in the >40 year time series leading up to the 2004/2005 calving event for Larsen C. This likely represents a highly sensitive aspect of ice shelf stability, as changes in the oceanic forcing may lead to the loss of this heterogeneity. ©2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

Detailed maps of bed elevation and ice thickness are essential for understanding and projecting the evolution of the ice sheets. Such maps are traditionally obtained using airborne radarsounding profiler data interpolated onto regular grids using geostatistical tools such as kriging. Here we compare three mapping techniques applied to a dense radar survey of Russell Glacier, West Greenland, by NASA Operation IceBridge: (1) radar tomography (RT) processing of the radar data to map the bed elevation, (2) interpolation of radar-derived thickness by ordinary kriging (KR) and (3) reconstruction of ice thickness based on the principles of mass conservation (MC) combining radar-sounding profiler and ice motion data. RT eliminates ambiguities caused by off-nadir reflections, but is spatially limited. KR yields a standard error in bed elevation of 35 m, but large errors (>300m a-1) in flux divergence when combined with ice motion data. MC yields a comparable performance in bed elevation mapping, and errors smaller than 1m a-1 in flux divergence. When the number of radar-sounding tracks is reduced, the performance of KR decreases more rapidly than for MC. Our study site shows that MC is capable of maintaining precision levels of 60m at 400m posting with flight tracks separated by 5 km. © 2014 Publishing Technology.