Observed rapid bedrock uplift in Amundsen Sea Embayment promotes ice-sheet stability

Valentina R. Barletta; Michael Bevis; Benjamin E. Smith; Terry Wilson; Abel Brown; Andrea Bordoni; Michael Willis; Shfaqat Abbas Khan; Marc Rovira-Navarro; Ian Dalziel; Robert Smalley; Eric Kendrick; Stephanie Konfal; Dana J. Caccamise; Richard C. Aster; Andy Nyblade; Douglas A. Wiens

doi:10.1126/science.aao1447

Observed rapid bedrock uplift in Amundsen Sea Embayment promotes ice-sheet stability

Valentina R. Barletta^*, Michael Bevis, Benjamin E. Smith, Terry Wilson, Abel Brown, Andrea Bordoni, Michael Willis, Shfaqat Abbas Khan, Marc Rovira-Navarro, Ian Dalziel, Robert Smalley, Eric Kendrick, Stephanie Konfal, Dana J. Caccamise, Richard C. Aster, Andy Nyblade, Douglas A. Wiens

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Abstract

The marine portion of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) in the Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE) accounts for one-fourth of the cryospheric contribution to global sea-level rise and is vulnerable to catastrophic collapse. The bedrock response to ice mass loss, glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA), was thought to occur on a time scale of 10,000 years. We used new GPS measurements, which show a rapid (41 millimeters per year) uplift of the ASE, to estimate the viscosity of the mantle underneath. We found a much lower viscosity (4 × 10¹⁸ pascal-second) than global average, and this shortens the GIA response time scale from tens to hundreds of years. Our finding requires an upward revision of ice mass loss from gravity data of 10% and increases the potential stability of the WAIS against catastrophic collapse.

Original language	English
Journal	Science
Volume	360
Issue number	6395
Pages (from-to)	1335-1339
ISSN	0036-8075
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aao1447
Publication status	Published - 2018

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Barletta, V. R., Bevis, M., Smith, B. E., Wilson, T., Brown, A., Bordoni, A., Willis, M., Khan, S. A., Rovira-Navarro, M., Dalziel, I., Smalley, R., Kendrick, E., Konfal, S., Caccamise, D. J., Aster, R. C., Nyblade, A., & Wiens, D. A. (2018). Observed rapid bedrock uplift in Amundsen Sea Embayment promotes ice-sheet stability. Science, 360(6395), 1335-1339. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aao1447

@article{246996865f064efe9de7458bab776777,

title = "Observed rapid bedrock uplift in Amundsen Sea Embayment promotes ice-sheet stability",

abstract = "The marine portion of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) in the Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE) accounts for one-fourth of the cryospheric contribution to global sea-level rise and is vulnerable to catastrophic collapse. The bedrock response to ice mass loss, glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA), was thought to occur on a time scale of 10,000 years. We used new GPS measurements, which show a rapid (41 millimeters per year) uplift of the ASE, to estimate the viscosity of the mantle underneath. We found a much lower viscosity (4 × 1018 pascal-second) than global average, and this shortens the GIA response time scale from tens to hundreds of years. Our finding requires an upward revision of ice mass loss from gravity data of 10% and increases the potential stability of the WAIS against catastrophic collapse.",

author = "Barletta, {Valentina R.} and Michael Bevis and Smith, {Benjamin E.} and Terry Wilson and Abel Brown and Andrea Bordoni and Michael Willis and Khan, {Shfaqat Abbas} and Marc Rovira-Navarro and Ian Dalziel and Robert Smalley and Eric Kendrick and Stephanie Konfal and Caccamise, {Dana J.} and Aster, {Richard C.} and Andy Nyblade and Wiens, {Douglas A.}",

year = "2018",

doi = "10.1126/science.aao1447",

language = "English",

volume = "360",

pages = "1335--1339",

journal = "Science",

issn = "0036-8075",

publisher = "American Association for the Advancement of Science",

number = "6395",

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Barletta, VR, Bevis, M, Smith, BE, Wilson, T, Brown, A, Bordoni, A, Willis, M, Khan, SA, Rovira-Navarro, M, Dalziel, I, Smalley, R, Kendrick, E, Konfal, S, Caccamise, DJ, Aster, RC, Nyblade, A & Wiens, DA 2018, 'Observed rapid bedrock uplift in Amundsen Sea Embayment promotes ice-sheet stability', Science, vol. 360, no. 6395, pp. 1335-1339. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aao1447

TY - JOUR

T1 - Observed rapid bedrock uplift in Amundsen Sea Embayment promotes ice-sheet stability

AU - Barletta, Valentina R.

AU - Bevis, Michael

AU - Smith, Benjamin E.

AU - Wilson, Terry

AU - Brown, Abel

AU - Bordoni, Andrea

AU - Willis, Michael

AU - Khan, Shfaqat Abbas

AU - Rovira-Navarro, Marc

AU - Dalziel, Ian

AU - Smalley, Robert

AU - Kendrick, Eric

AU - Konfal, Stephanie

AU - Caccamise, Dana J.

AU - Aster, Richard C.

AU - Nyblade, Andy

AU - Wiens, Douglas A.

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - The marine portion of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) in the Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE) accounts for one-fourth of the cryospheric contribution to global sea-level rise and is vulnerable to catastrophic collapse. The bedrock response to ice mass loss, glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA), was thought to occur on a time scale of 10,000 years. We used new GPS measurements, which show a rapid (41 millimeters per year) uplift of the ASE, to estimate the viscosity of the mantle underneath. We found a much lower viscosity (4 × 1018 pascal-second) than global average, and this shortens the GIA response time scale from tens to hundreds of years. Our finding requires an upward revision of ice mass loss from gravity data of 10% and increases the potential stability of the WAIS against catastrophic collapse.

AB - The marine portion of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) in the Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE) accounts for one-fourth of the cryospheric contribution to global sea-level rise and is vulnerable to catastrophic collapse. The bedrock response to ice mass loss, glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA), was thought to occur on a time scale of 10,000 years. We used new GPS measurements, which show a rapid (41 millimeters per year) uplift of the ASE, to estimate the viscosity of the mantle underneath. We found a much lower viscosity (4 × 1018 pascal-second) than global average, and this shortens the GIA response time scale from tens to hundreds of years. Our finding requires an upward revision of ice mass loss from gravity data of 10% and increases the potential stability of the WAIS against catastrophic collapse.

U2 - 10.1126/science.aao1447

DO - 10.1126/science.aao1447

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 29930133

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 360

SP - 1335

EP - 1339

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6395

ER -

Observed rapid bedrock uplift in Amundsen Sea Embayment promotes ice-sheet stability

Abstract

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