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SUMMARY:Decadal oceanic variability drives ice sheet retreat in the Amunds
 en Sea\, West Antarctica - Adrian Jenkins\, British Antarctic Survey
DTSTART:20180109T110000Z
DTEND:20180109T120000Z
UID:TALK97645@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Christian Buckingham
DESCRIPTION:Mass loss from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) has been we
 ll documented during the era of satellite observations. That loss has been
  attributed to warming of seawater on the adjacent continental shelf\, or 
 continuing ice response to a past climate anomaly\, but may result from so
 me combination of related processes. Here we report ocean measurements ove
 r a 16-year period near the Dotson Ice Shelf and estimate changes in its b
 asal melting\, compared with the flux of its glaciers into the sea. Decada
 l variability dominates the ocean records\, and melting responds by factor
 s of 3-6 between cool and warm extremes via a non-linear relationship with
  ocean temperature. The most recent warm phase caused ice shelf thinning a
 nd grounding line retreat\, while some re-advance occurred during the subs
 equent cool phase. We argue that coherent regional ocean variability cause
 s the more sustained mass loss from this sector of the WAIS\, with warm ex
 tremes initiating episodes of inland thinning that are often only slightly
  damped by cool periods. The particular vulnerability of the ice sheet in 
 the Amundsen Sea embayment can therefore be explained by the combination o
 f ocean thermal forcing that is sensitive to wind changes and highly varia
 ble regional atmospheric circulation.
LOCATION:British Antarctic Survey\, Seminar Room 307
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