Proglacial Lake Drainage Events Drive Fast Grounding Line Advance in a Warming Climate
Abstract Proglacial lakes along the retreating margin of the Laurentide ice sheet (LIS) significantly influenced the ice sheet's dynamics. This study investigates the interaction between proglacial lake drainage events and ice sheet evolution during deglaciation. Using a flowline ice sheet mode...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL115184 |
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| author | Kai Hu Marianne Haseloff |
| author_facet | Kai Hu Marianne Haseloff |
| author_sort | Kai Hu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Proglacial lakes along the retreating margin of the Laurentide ice sheet (LIS) significantly influenced the ice sheet's dynamics. This study investigates the interaction between proglacial lake drainage events and ice sheet evolution during deglaciation. Using a flowline ice sheet model, we demonstrate that abrupt lake drainage caused by the opening of spillways during the retreat of the ice sheet can temporarily reverse ice retreat and trigger rapid grounding line advance despite ongoing climate warming. We also show that ice shelf regrounding on a retrograde lake bed can follow lake drainage and further amplify ice sheet advance. These processes can decouple ice dynamics from climate forcing, offering a non‐climatic mechanism to explain the observed highly irregular ice margin fluctuations of the LIS. Our findings suggest that proglacial lakes might play an important role in modulating ice sheet evolution in warming climates. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ff86b859fdad461f9575633d37cfb5c0 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-ff86b859fdad461f9575633d37cfb5c02025-08-20T02:56:35ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072025-04-01528n/an/a10.1029/2025GL115184Proglacial Lake Drainage Events Drive Fast Grounding Line Advance in a Warming ClimateKai Hu0Marianne Haseloff1Department of Geoscience University of Wisconsin‐Madison Madison WI USADepartment of Geoscience University of Wisconsin‐Madison Madison WI USAAbstract Proglacial lakes along the retreating margin of the Laurentide ice sheet (LIS) significantly influenced the ice sheet's dynamics. This study investigates the interaction between proglacial lake drainage events and ice sheet evolution during deglaciation. Using a flowline ice sheet model, we demonstrate that abrupt lake drainage caused by the opening of spillways during the retreat of the ice sheet can temporarily reverse ice retreat and trigger rapid grounding line advance despite ongoing climate warming. We also show that ice shelf regrounding on a retrograde lake bed can follow lake drainage and further amplify ice sheet advance. These processes can decouple ice dynamics from climate forcing, offering a non‐climatic mechanism to explain the observed highly irregular ice margin fluctuations of the LIS. Our findings suggest that proglacial lakes might play an important role in modulating ice sheet evolution in warming climates.https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL115184proglacial lakeice sheet dynamicsdeglaciationmorainesLaurentide ice sheetLake Superior basin |
| spellingShingle | Kai Hu Marianne Haseloff Proglacial Lake Drainage Events Drive Fast Grounding Line Advance in a Warming Climate Geophysical Research Letters proglacial lake ice sheet dynamics deglaciation moraines Laurentide ice sheet Lake Superior basin |
| title | Proglacial Lake Drainage Events Drive Fast Grounding Line Advance in a Warming Climate |
| title_full | Proglacial Lake Drainage Events Drive Fast Grounding Line Advance in a Warming Climate |
| title_fullStr | Proglacial Lake Drainage Events Drive Fast Grounding Line Advance in a Warming Climate |
| title_full_unstemmed | Proglacial Lake Drainage Events Drive Fast Grounding Line Advance in a Warming Climate |
| title_short | Proglacial Lake Drainage Events Drive Fast Grounding Line Advance in a Warming Climate |
| title_sort | proglacial lake drainage events drive fast grounding line advance in a warming climate |
| topic | proglacial lake ice sheet dynamics deglaciation moraines Laurentide ice sheet Lake Superior basin |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL115184 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kaihu proglaciallakedrainageeventsdrivefastgroundinglineadvanceinawarmingclimate AT mariannehaseloff proglaciallakedrainageeventsdrivefastgroundinglineadvanceinawarmingclimate |