NEGIS is the largest ice stream draining the Greenland Ice Sheet into the ocean. It contains enough ice to raise global sea level by 1.1 – 1.4 metres. Its stability is therefore critical for future sea-level projections.
By reconstructing the behaviour of NEGIS over the last 20,000 years – since the end of the Last Glacial Maximum – the research team, led by Newcastle University and Durham University, showed that oceanic processes, not just atmospheric changes, played a decisive role in past episodes of rapid ice retreat.
The research, published in Nature Communications, found that when an ice stream’s grounding line (where ice lifts off from its bed and begins to float), is exposed to warm ocean water, the ice stream and its ice shelves become much more vulnerable to retreat and collapse.
Read More at: Newcastle University
Source: ENN
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