Ocean forcing of glacier retreat in the western Antarctic Peninsula
The heat is on
Rising surface air temperatures are understood to cause glacial melting, but it is becoming increasingly clear that the ocean also has a strong impact. Cook et al. studied glaciers that drain the Antarctic Peninsula and found a strong correlation between mid-depth ocean temperatures and glacier-front changes along the peninsula's western coastline. Glaciers in the south, which are exposed to warmer waters, have undergone significant retreat, while those in the northwest, which terminate in cooler waters, have not retreated as much or as uniformly. Thus, ocean-induced melting appears to be the main cause of glacial retreat in the region.
Science, this issue p. 283
Abstract
In recent decades, hundreds of glaciers draining the Antarctic Peninsula (63° to 70°S) have undergone systematic and progressive change. These changes are widely attributed to rapid increases in regional surface air temperature, but it is now clear that this cannot be the sole driver. Here, we identify a strong correspondence between mid-depth ocean temperatures and glacier-front changes along the ~1000-kilometer western coastline. In the south, glaciers that terminate in warm Circumpolar Deep Water have undergone considerable retreat, whereas those in the far northwest, which terminate in cooler waters, have not. Furthermore, a mid-ocean warming since the 1990s in the south is coincident with widespread acceleration of glacier retreat. We conclude that changes in ocean-induced melting are the primary cause of retreat for glaciers in this region.
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Supplementary Material
Summary
Materials and Methods
Figs. S1 and S2
Table S1
Database S1
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Resources
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Published In
Science
Volume 353 | Issue 6296
15 July 2016
15 July 2016
Copyright
Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Submission history
Received: 4 December 2015
Accepted: 9 June 2016
Published in print: 15 July 2016
Acknowledgments
This work was largely supported through an AXA (global investment and insurance group) Research Fund Fellowship. We are grateful to the National Centers for Environmental Information for providing access to the World Ocean Database and to all those who have contributed ocean data from the region surrounding the Antarctic Peninsula. The glacier-change data reported in this paper are tabulated in a database in the supplementary materials. We are most grateful to the reviewers who gave recommendations for improving this paper.
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