Pine Island Glacier

Pine Island Glacier is a major outlet glacier in West Antarctica that carries ice from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet into the Amundsen Sea. Its rapid flow and retreat make it a major contributor to Antarctic ice loss.

Grounding line: The boundary where a glacier grounded on bedrock begins to float as an ice shelf. Retreat of Pine Island Glacier’s grounding line allows ocean water to reach farther inland.
Sea-level rise: A long-term increase in the average height of the global ocean surface. Ice lost by Pine Island Glacier flows into the ocean and raises sea level.
Pine Island Glacier Ice Shelf: The floating ice extension of Pine Island Glacier in the Amundsen Sea. Its thinning and changes in extent influence the flow of the grounded glacier.
Circumpolar Deep Water: A relatively warm, salty water mass found around Antarctica beneath colder surface waters. Its access to the glacier’s cavity supplies heat that melts the ice shelf from below.
Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station: A United States research station at the geographic South Pole, established in 1956. Early inland Antarctic surveys linked the region’s ice drainage to coastal glaciers such as Pine Island.
Ice shelf: A floating extension of a land glacier that remains attached to the coast. The glacier’s floating tongue restrains inland ice and is thinned by ocean heat.
Amundsen Sea Embayment: A coastal region of West Antarctica drained by several glaciers flowing into the Amundsen Sea. Pine Island Glacier is one of the major ice outlets in this rapidly changing region.
Pine Island Glacier ice stream: The fast-flowing central channel of ice within Pine Island Glacier. Its speed and discharge provide direct measures of the glacier’s changing flow.
Ice-sheet model: A numerical representation of ice-sheet flow and change under specified physical conditions. Models estimate how uncertain processes beneath Pine Island Glacier affect future ice loss.
Antarctic Treaty System: The international agreements governing peaceful use and scientific cooperation in Antarctica. International research frameworks support sustained observation of the glacier and its surroundings.

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