Competing processes determine the long-term impact of basal friction parameterizations for Antarctic mass loss

Abstract

Previous studies do not agree on the magnitude of the influence of basal friction laws in sea-level projections. We use the Community Ice Sheet Model (CISM) to show that the sensitivity of the projected sea level rise to the choice of basal friction law depends on the specific geometric setting and the initial state of the ice sheet model. We find a geometry-driven connection between buttressing and basal sliding in the Amundsen Sea Embayment when performing multi-century future simulations based on the present-day observed imbalance of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, in which Thwaites and Pine Island glaciers eventually collapse. We perform two initializations which differ in their value of a free parameter that governs the effective pressure of ice grounded on bedrock below sea level. Both initializations lead to a modelled Antarctic Ice Sheet that well resembles present-day conditions (ice thickness, ice surface velocities and mass changes rates). Following each initialization, we run the model forward with present-day climate forcing. In one simulation, Thwaites Glacier collapses first, and in the other, Pine Island Glacier collapses first. When Thwaites Glacier collapses first, it creates a grounding line flux large enough to sustain an ice shelf that provides buttressing which largely balances the basal friction differences when using different basal friction parameterizations. A collapsing Pine Island Glacier, however, is sensitive to the choice of basal friction law. Thus, the regional evolution and its sensitivity to friction laws depend on initialization choices that are poorly constrained by observations. In both simulations, present-day ocean thermal forcing, which is a product of the inversion using the present-day imbalance, is sufficient to drive Thwaites and Pine Island collapse, but small differences introduce an uncertainty of about 500 years in the collapse timing.