Increasing Number of Meltwater Ponds in East Antarctica May Destabilize Ice Shelves

Nature Climate Change, 4 July 2025

This landmark study offers the first high-resolution, continent-wide map of surface meltwater across Antarctica, finding that East Antarctica contains multiple hotspots where rapid ponding and melting has occurred over the past two decades. These hotspots with more meltwater ponds are located along the entire edge of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, and are most pronounced at ice shelves in Dronning Maud Land and Wilkes Land. Surface ponds form when meltwater cannot drain away or become absorbed into the snow and ice below, increasing the risk of fracturing and (ultimately) ice shelf collapse. The study indicates that widespread processes driving increased meltwater ponding and hydrofracturing observed for decades in Greenland seem to be occurring in regions of East Antarctica as well. There is also some indication that these meltwater ponds are having a greater impact on sensitive snow cover on ice shelves. The increase of ponding in East Antarctica may weaken ice shelf integrity and surrounding regions, which may increase global sea-level rise projections if meltwater expands into even more vulnerable areas. This has already been observed at the massive Shackleton Ice Shelf of East Antarctica, which covers nearly 34,000 km2.

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