Figure CB8.1
Schematic representation of Marine Ice Sheet Instability (MISI, a) and Marine Ice Cliff Instability (MICI, b) from Pattyn (2018). (a) thinning of the buttressing ice shelf leads to acceleration of the ice sheet flow and thinning of the marine-terminated ice margin. Because bedrock under the ice sheet is sloping towards ice sheet interior, thinning of the ice causes retreat of the grounding line followed by an increase of the seaward ice flux, further thinning of the ice margin, and further retreat of the grounding line. (b) disintegration of the ice shelf due to bottom melting and/or hydro-fracturing produces an ice cliff. If the cliff is tall enough (at least ~800 m of total ice thickness, or about 100 m of ice above the water line), the stresses at the cliff face exceed the strength of the ice, and the cliff fails structurally in repeated calving events. Note that MISI requires a retrograde bed slope, while MICI can be realised on a flat or seaward-inclined bed. Like MISI, the persistence of MICI depends on the lack of ice shelf buttressing, which can stop or slow brittle ice failure at the grounding line by providing supportive backstress.