Deglacial Ice Sheet Instabilities Induced by Proglacial Lakes

During the last deglaciation (21–7 kaBP), the gradual retreat of Northern Hemisphere ice sheet margins produced large proglacial lakes. While the climatic impacts of these lakes have been widely acknowledged, their role on ice sheet grounding line dynamics has received very little attention so far. Here, we show that proglacial lakes had dramatic implications for the North American ice sheet dynamics through a self-sustained mechanical instability which has similarities with the known marine ice sheet instability consequently providing fast retreat of large portions of the ice sheet over the continent. This instability mechanism is likely important in contributing to deglaciation of terrestrial glaciers and ice sheets with proglacial lakes at their margins as it can substantially accelerate the mass loss. Echoing our knowledge of Antarctic ice sheet dynamics, proglacial lakes are another manifestation of the importance of grounding line dynamics for ice sheet evolution.