FAST RECESSION OF A WEST ANTARCTIC GLACIER

Satellite radar interferometry observations of Pine Island Glacier, We st Antarctica, reveal that the glacier hinge-line position retreated 1 .2 +/- 0.3 kilometers per year between 1992 and 1996, which in turn im plies that the ice thinned by 3.5 +/- 0.9 meters per year. The fast re cession of Pine Island Glacier, predicted to be a possible trigger for the disintegration of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, is attributed to enhanced basal melting of the glacier floating tongue by warm ocean wa ters.