Articles | Volume 21, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-2605-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-2605-2025
Research article
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28 Oct 2025
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 28 Oct 2025

Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf cavity observations reveal multiyear sea ice dynamics and deepwater warming in Pine Island Bay, West Antarctica

Christian T. Wild, Tasha Snow, Tiago S. Dotto, Peter E. D. Davis, Scott Tyler, Ted A. Scambos, Erin C. Pettit, and Karen J. Heywood

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Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-1675', Anonymous Referee #1, 02 May 2025
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-1675', Anonymous Referee #2, 15 May 2025

Peer review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision | EF: Editorial file upload
AR by Christian Wild on behalf of the Authors (01 Aug 2025)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Publish subject to technical corrections (02 Aug 2025) by Julian Mak
AR by Christian Wild on behalf of the Authors (08 Aug 2025)  Manuscript 
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Co-editor-in-chief
The article provides critical observations relating to the Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf and the modified Circumpolar Deep Water. The observed warming has important consequences for implied basal melting and can impact the stability of the ice shelf, with notable subsequent impacts, such as addition of mass into the ocean and thus implied sea level rise. The work calls for further efforts in constraining the uncertainties via a combination of observations, modelling and mechanistic understanding.
Short summary
Thwaites Glacier is retreating due to warm ocean water melting it from below, but its thick ice shelf makes this heat hard to monitor. Using hot-water drilling, we placed sensors beneath the floating ice, revealing how surface freezing in Pine Island Bay influences heat at depth. Alongside gradual warming, we found bursts of heat that could speed up melting at the grounding zone, which may become more common as sea ice declines.
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