%0 Journal Article %J Geophysical Research Letters %D 2016 %T Sensitivity of Pine Island Glacier to observed ocean forcing %A Christianson, Knut %A Bushuk, Mitchell %A Dutrieux, Pierre %A Parizek, Byron R. %A Joughin, Ian R. %A Alley, Richard B. %A Shean, David E. %A Abrahamsen, E. Povl %A Anandakrishnan, Sridhar %A Heywood, Karen J. %A Kim, Tae-Wan %A Lee, Sang Hoon %A Nicholls, Keith %A Stanton, Tim %A Truffer, Martin %A Webber, Benjamin G. M. %A Jenkins, Adrian %A Jacobs, Stan %A Bindschadler, Robert %A Holland, David M. %K glacier-ocean interactions %K Ice Dynamics %K ice shelves %K ice streams %K marine ice sheet instability %X ©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. %B Geophysical Research Letters %V 43 %P 10,817–10,825 %8 oct %G eng %U http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/2016GL070500 %R 10.1002/2016GL070500