Pine Island Glacier melt rates, grounding zone evolution, and dynamic response from 2008-2015

Abstract:

Significant grounding line retreat, acceleration, and thinning have occurred along the Amundsen Sea sector of West Antarctica in recent decades. These changes are directly linked to ice-ocean interaction beneath ice shelves, but existing observations of the spatial distribution, timing, and magnitude of ice shelf basal melt are very limited.

We generated ~2 m/px DEMs for all available 2010-2015 high-resolution stereo satellite imagery (WorldView-1/2/3 and GeoEye-1) of the West Antarctic coast (excluding the Ross and Ronne-Filchner ice shelves). Annual and sub-annual DEM mosaics were produced for the Amundsen Sea sector, with focus on the Pine Island Glacier (PIG). We integrated SPIRIT ~40 m/px DEMs to extend the PIG time series to 2007/2008, and incorporated surface velocity maps from TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X from 2009-2015.

We use these products to compute ice thickness, Eulerian dH/dt, and Lagrangian DH/Dt, which capture evolving grounding line position, shelf thickening/thinning, and upstream ice dynamics. Ice shelf basal melt rate estimates are derived from both lagrangian DH/Dt and dense flux gate mass budget analysis. We document the spatial and temporal evolution of melt rates for the 2008-2015 period, and compare with existing ICESat (2003-2008) melt estimates and oceanographic observations. Finally, we compare observed melt vs. depth relationships with existing ice flow model parameterizations.

Estimated basal melt rates are >100-150 m/yr within the PIG inner cavity, with significantly lower rates of <50 m/yr beneath the outer shelf. Eulerian dh/dt observations show significant thinning (>5-10 m/yr) upstream of the PIG grounding line following the ~2008-2009 ungrounding of the PIG “ice plain,” with additional thinning along lateral margins in subsequent years. A combination of reduced melt rates and increased flux resulted in ice shelf regrounding on a large transverse seabed ridge and significant ice shelf thickening.

These new data provide critical observations that improve our understanding of ocean forcing, ice-ocean interaction, and resultant mass loss in the Amundsen Sea region.