TY - JOUR T1 - Sensitivity of Pine Island Glacier to observed ocean forcing JF - Geophysical Research Letters Y1 - 2016 A1 - Christianson, Knut A1 - Bushuk, Mitchell A1 - Dutrieux, Pierre A1 - Parizek, Byron R. A1 - Joughin, Ian R. A1 - Alley, Richard B. A1 - Shean, David E. A1 - Abrahamsen, E. Povl A1 - Anandakrishnan, Sridhar A1 - Heywood, Karen J. A1 - Kim, Tae-Wan A1 - Lee, Sang Hoon A1 - Nicholls, Keith A1 - Stanton, Tim A1 - Truffer, Martin A1 - Webber, Benjamin G. M. A1 - Jenkins, Adrian A1 - Jacobs, Stan A1 - Bindschadler, Robert A1 - Holland, David M. KW - glacier-ocean interactions KW - Ice Dynamics KW - ice shelves KW - ice streams KW - marine ice sheet instability AB - ©2016. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.We present subannual observations (2009–2014) of a major West Antarctic glacier (Pine Island Glacier) and the neighboring ocean. Ongoing glacier retreat and accelerated ice flow were likely triggered a few decades ago by increased ocean-induced thinning, which may have initiated marine ice sheet instability. Following a subsequent 60{%} drop in ocean heat content from early 2012 to late 2013, ice flow slowed, but by {\textless} 4{%}, with flow recovering as the ocean warmed to prior temperatures. During this cold-ocean period, the evolving glacier-bed/ice shelf system was also in a geometry favorable to stabilization. However, despite a minor, temporary decrease in ice discharge, the basin-wide thinning signal did not change. Thus, as predicted by theory, once marine ice sheet instability is underway, a single transient high-amplitude ocean cooling has only a relatively minor effect on ice flow. The long-term effects of ocean temperature variability on ice flow, however, are not yet known. VL - 43 UR - http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/2016GL070500 ER -