Widespread, rapid grounding line retreat of Pine Island, Thwaites, Smith, and Kohler glaciers, West Antarctica, from 1992 to 2011

TLDR

We measured grounding‑line retreat of Amundsen Sea sector glaciers in West Antarctica from 1992 to 2011 using ERS‑1/2 satellite radar interferometry. The retreats occurred along retrograde bed elevations mapped at high resolution with a mass‑conservation technique that eliminates ambiguities from earlier maps. Pine Island Glacier retreated 31 km (most in 2005–2009), Thwaites 14 km along its core and 1–9 km on its sides, Haynes 10 km on its flanks, and Smith/Kohler 35 km along its ice plain with vanishing ice‑shelf pinning points, and no major bed obstacle upstream of 2011 positions suggests further retreat of the entire basin.

Abstract

Abstract 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.