Observed rapid bedrock uplift in Amundsen Sea Embayment promotes ice-sheet stability
Valentin Roberta Barletta (Technical University of Denmark (DTU), The Ohio State University)
Michael Bevis (The Ohio State University)
Benjamin E. Smith (University of Washington)
Terry Wilson (The Ohio State University)
Andrea Bordoni (Technical University of Denmark (DTU))
Michael Willis (University of Colorado - Boulder)
Marc Rovira Navarro (TU Delft - Astrodynamics & Space Missions)
Ian Dalziel (The University of Texas at Austin)
Robert Smalley Jr (University of Memphis)
Richard C. Aster (Colorado State University)
Andy Nyblade (Pennsylvania State University)
Douglas A. Wiens (Washington University in St. Louis)
undefined More Authors (External organisation)
More Info
expand_more
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 to decades up to a century. 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.
No files available
Metadata only record. There are no files for this record.