[Press Release] Antarctic ice melt triggers further melting: Evidence for cascading feedbacks 9,000 years ago

Marine sediment coring from the icebreaker Shirase during the 61st Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (2019–2020).
A large cylindrical coring device is deployed vertically into the seafloor and recovered to obtain sediment cores.
A video of the field survey conducted on the Antarctic continent is available at:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LCU4BZKmyWbvjpklxHPYLZCTbRlSrDip?usp=sharing
credit: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)

Release Summary

An international team led by Japan’s National Institute of Polar Research discovered that large-scale East Antarctic ice loss around 9,000 years ago was amplified by a “cascading positive feedback” between meltwater and ocean circulation. Sediment records and ocean–climate modeling show that meltwater from other Antarctic regions strengthened warm deep-water inflow, accelerating ice-shelf collapse and inland thinning. The finding highlights how Antarctic ice melt can self-reinforce under ongoing global warming.

For Details (Eurekalert!)

• Title: Antarctic ice shelf collapse in Holocene driven by meltwater release feedbacks
• Authors: Yusuke Suganuma^1,2, Takuya Itaki³, Yuki Haneda³, Kazuya Kusahara⁴, Takashi Obase^5,4, Takeshige Ishiwa^1,2, Takayuki Omori⁶, Minoru Ikehara⁷, Rob McKay⁸, Osamu Seki⁹, Daisuke Hirano^1,2, Masakazu Fujii^1,2, Yuji Kato⁷, Atsuko Amano³, Yuki Tokuda¹⁰, Hokuto Iwatani¹¹, Yoshiaki Suzuki³, Motohiro Hirabayashi¹, Hiroyuki Matsuzaki¹², Takeyasu Yamagata¹², Masao Iwai⁷, Kota Katsuki¹³, Francisco J. Jimenez-Espejo^4,14, Hiroki Matsui15, Koji Seike³, Moto Kawamata^2,16, Naohisa Nishida¹⁷, Masato Ito¹, Shin Sugiyama⁸, Jun'ichi Okuno^1,2,18, Takanobu Sawagaki¹⁹, Ayako Abe-Ouchi^1,5, Shigeru Aoki⁸, Hideki Miura^1,20
  1 National Institute of Polar Research,
  2 The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)
  3 Geological Survey of Japan, The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
  4 Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
  5 Atmosphere Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo
  6 The University Museum, University of Tokyo
  7 Marine Core Research Institute, Kochi University
  8 Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington
  9 Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University
  10 Faculty of Environmental Studies, Tottori University of Environmental Studies
  11 Faculty of Science, Yamaguchi University, Yamaguchi
  12 Micro Analysis Laboratory, Tandem Accelerator (MALT), The University of Tokyo
  13 Estuary Research Center, Shimane University
  14 Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
  15 Graduate School of International Resource Sciences, Akita University
  16 Civil Engineering Research Institute for Cold Region, Public Works Research Institute
  17 Department of Environmental Sciences, Tokyo Gakugei University
  18 Joint Support-Center for Data Science Research, Research Organization of Information and Systems
  19 Faculty of Social Sciences, Hosei University
  20 Faculty of Economics, Aomori Public University
• Journal: Nature Geoscience
• DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01829-7

• National Institute of Polar Research
• Polar Science