Abstract
In this work we use analogue modelling to analyse the effect of sudden ice shelf breakup on the flow of ice draining an ice sheet grounded below sea level. Experimental results confirm that the removal of the buttressing effect exerted by the ice shelf results in significant acceleration of inland glaciers: the models show indeed a pronounced increase in ice velocity close to the grounding line. However, this effect does not significantly propagate upstream towards the internal portions of the ice sheet and rapidly decays with time. Therefore, the ice sheet is almost unaffected by flow perturbations induced by the disintegration of the ice shelf.
Highlights
Recent events of ice shelf collapse, such as the breakup of Antarctic Peninsula’s Larsen-A and LarsenB ice shelves between 1995 and 2002, showed that these processes may strongly perturb the ice flow by inducing a sudden, significant increase in flow velocities
In this work we expand these previous results by performing simple small-scale laboratory models that analyse the influence of ice shelf collapse on the flow of ice streams draining an ice sheet grounded below sea level
The current small-scale modelling was designed to reproduce and analyse the influence of ice shelf collapse on the flow of ice streams draining an ice sheet grounded below sea level
Summary
Recent events of ice shelf collapse, such as the breakup of Antarctic Peninsula’s Larsen-A and LarsenB ice shelves between 1995 and 2002, showed that these processes may strongly perturb the ice flow by inducing a sudden, significant increase in flow velocities After these major events, glaciers accelerated up to eightfold [e.g., Rignot et al, 2004], a process which is thought to be related to the removal of the buttressing effect exerted by the ice shelves [e.g., Weertman, 1974; Hughes, 1977; Thomas, 1979]. There are 'passive' portions of ice shelves that can be can be removed without major dynamic implications (the Larsen C Ice Shelf in the Weddell Sea is one example), whereas ice loss from other areas (e.g., Filchner-Ronne and Ross Ice Shelves) may have significant effects on upstream flow [see summary in Gagliardini, 2018]. In this work we expand these previous results by performing simple small-scale laboratory models that analyse the influence of ice shelf collapse on the flow of ice streams draining an ice sheet grounded below sea level (e.g., the West Antarctic Ice Sheet)
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