Strong Sensitivity of Pine Island Ice-Shelf Melting to Climatic Variability

Cold Glacier Growth Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica has thinned significantly during the last two decades and has provided a measurable contribution to sea-level rise as a result. Both glacier dynamics and climate are thought to be responsible for thinning, but exactly how they influence the glacier are incompletely known. Dutrieux et al. (p. 174 , published online 2 January) provide another layer of detail to our understanding of the process through observations of ocean temperatures in the surrounding waters. The thermocline adjacent in the sea adjacent to the glacier calving front (where ice is discharged) lowered by 250 meters in the austral summer of 2012. This change exposed the bottom of the ice shelf…

• SR
  Sight Research UK

  Awards: NE/G001367/1, NE/J005770/1, bas0100028, NE/H02333X/1
• NE
  Natural Environment Research Council

  Awards: NE/G001367/1, NE/H02333X/1, bas0100028, NE/J005770/1