Extensive dynamic thinning on the margins of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets

Hamish D. Pritchard (), Robert J. Arthern, David G. Vaughan and Laura A. Edwards
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Hamish D. Pritchard: British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK
Robert J. Arthern: British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK
David G. Vaughan: British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK
Laura A. Edwards: School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol

Nature, 2009, vol. 461, issue 7266, 971-975

Abstract: Calculating on thin ice Mass loss from marginal glaciers along the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets is known to be contributing to sea-level rise but the precise magnitude and mechanisms are unclear, making it difficult to predict its potential future contribution to sea level. Surface mass loss is certainly a factor. Ice loss from faster glacier flow — called dynamical thinning — has been more difficult to pin down. High-resolution satellite altimetry measurements now show that dynamical thinning is far more important and extensive than previously thought, especially at ocean margins.

Date: 2009
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DOI: 10.1038/nature08471

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