IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v5y2014i1d10.1038_ncomms4707.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Marine ice regulates the future stability of a large Antarctic ice shelf

Author

Listed:
  • Bernd Kulessa

    (Glaciology Group, College of Science, Swansea University)

  • Daniela Jansen

    (Glaciology Group, College of Science, Swansea University
    Present address: Division of Glaciology, Alfred-Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, 27568 Bremerhaven, Germany)

  • Adrian J. Luckman

    (Glaciology Group, College of Science, Swansea University)

  • Edward C. King

    (British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council)

  • Peter R. Sammonds

    (Rock and Ice Physics Laboratory and Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling, University College London)

Abstract

The collapses of the Larsen A and B ice shelves on the Antarctic Peninsula in 1995 and 2002 confirm the impact of southward-propagating climate warming in this region. Recent mass and dynamic changes of Larsen B’s southern neighbour Larsen C, the fourth largest ice shelf in Antarctica, may herald a similar instability. Here, using a validated ice-shelf model run in diagnostic mode, constrained by satellite and in situ geophysical data, we identify the nature of this potential instability. We demonstrate that the present-day spatial distribution and orientation of the principal stresses within Larsen C ice shelf are akin to those within pre-collapse Larsen B. When Larsen B’s stabilizing frontal portion was lost in 1995, the unstable remaining shelf accelerated, crumbled and ultimately collapsed. We hypothesize that Larsen C ice shelf may suffer a similar fate if it were not stabilized by warm and mechanically soft marine ice, entrained within narrow suture zones.

Suggested Citation

  • Bernd Kulessa & Daniela Jansen & Adrian J. Luckman & Edward C. King & Peter R. Sammonds, 2014. "Marine ice regulates the future stability of a large Antarctic ice shelf," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 5(1), pages 1-7, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:5:y:2014:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms4707
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms4707
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms4707
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/ncomms4707?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. K. E. Miles & B. Hubbard & A. Luckman & B. Kulessa & S. Bevan & S. Thompson & G. Jones, 2025. "Influence of the grounding zone on the internal structure of ice shelves," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-9, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:5:y:2014:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms4707. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.