Slowdown in Antarctic mass loss from solid Earth and sea-level feedbacks

Abstract

Geodetic investigations of crustal motions in the Amundsen Sea sector of West Antarctica and models of ice-sheet evolution in the past 10,000 years have recently highlighted the stabilizing role of solid-Earth uplift on polar ice sheets. One critical aspect, however, that has not been assessed is the impact of short-wavelength uplift generated by the solid-Earth response to unloading over short time scales close to ice-sheet grounding lines (areas where the ice becomes afloat). Here, we present a new global simulation of Antarctic evolution at high spatiotemporal resolution that captures all solid Earth processes that affect ice sheets and show a projected negative feedback in grounding line migration of 38% for Thwaites Glacier 350 years in the future, or 26.8% reduction in corresponding sea-level contribution.