Warm Ocean Waters Increased Retreat of Key Glacier in West Antarctica by Undermining Ice Shelf Support

Nature Communications, 21 October 2025

Berry Glacier in West Antarctica has undergone dramatic retreat and thinning over the past three decades, driven by seawater intrusion beneath its ice shelf. This glacier feeds into the Getz Ice Shelf, which governs roughly 10% of the region’s ice discharge. Between 1996 and 2021, Berry Glacier retreated 18 kilometers inland, and recorded the farthest extent of seawater penetrating beneath grounded ice ever recorded in Antarctica. In addition, the glacier’s flow speed increased by 64% during this period, as it lost over 130 gigatons of ice that flowed into the ocean. Warm deep waters circulating the continent infiltrated the subglacial cavity, increasing melt at its base and weakening the glacier’s structural stability in a destructive feedback loop.

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