Abstract
Abstract. Pine Island Glacier is the largest current Antarctic contributor to sea-level
rise. Its ice loss has substantially increased over the last 25 years through
thinning, acceleration and grounding line retreat. However, the calving line
positions of the stabilising ice shelf did not show any trend within the
observational record (last 70 years) until calving in 2015 led to
unprecedented retreat and changed the alignment of the calving front.
Bathymetric surveying revealed a ridge below the former ice shelf and two
shallower highs to the north. Satellite imagery shows that ice contact on the
ridge was likely lost in 2006 but was followed by intermittent contact
resulting in back stress fluctuations on the ice shelf. Continuing ice-shelf
flow also led to occasional ice-shelf contact with the northern bathymetric
highs, which initiated rift formation that led to calving. The observations
show that bathymetry is an important factor in initiating calving events.
Subject
Earth-Surface Processes,Water Science and Technology
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