Articles | Volume 11, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-451-2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-451-2017
Research article
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08 Feb 2017
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 08 Feb 2017

Connected subglacial lake drainage beneath Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica

Benjamin E. Smith, Noel Gourmelen, Alexander Huth, and Ian Joughin

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AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision
AR by Benjamin Smith on behalf of the Authors (24 Nov 2016)  Author's response    Manuscript
ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (01 Dec 2016) by Jonathan Bamber
ED: Publish as is (03 Jan 2017) by Jonathan Bamber
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Short summary
In this paper we investigate elevation changes of Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica, one of the main sources of excess ice discharge into the ocean. We find that in early 2013, four subglacial lakes separated by 100 km drained suddenly, discharging more than 3 km3 of water under the fastest part of the glacier in less than 6 months. Concurrent ice-speed measurements show only minor changes, suggesting that ice dynamics are not strongly sensitive to changes in water flow.