EGUsphere EGUsphere EGUsphere EGUsphere 1994-0440 Copernicus Publications Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/egusphere-2023-1949 Brief Communication: Rapid acceleration of the Brunt Ice Shelf after calving of iceberg A-81 Marsh Oliver J. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7874-514X 1 Luckman Adrian J. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9618-5905 2 Hodgson Dominic A. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3841-3746 1 British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK Department of Geography, Swansea University, Swansea, UK 13 09 2023 2023 1 9 Copyright: © 2023 Oliver J. Marsh et al. 2023 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This article is available from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2023/egusphere-2023-1949/ The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2023/egusphere-2023-1949/egusphere-2023-1949.pdf

<p>The Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica, accelerated rapidly from 900 m a<sup>-1</sup> to 1500 m a<sup>-1</sup> during six months following the calving of a 1500 km<sup>2</sup> iceberg on 22<sup>nd</sup> January 2023. Initially, the rate of acceleration increased by a factor of ten, with a second, smaller calving at the end of June 2023 leading to further tripling of acceleration. The acceleration is caused by reduction of buttressing at the McDonald Ice Rumples due to loss of contact with the sea floor and has led to high strain rates to the south, with potential consequences for the stability of the remaining ice shelf.</p>

 Natural Environment Research Council NE/T008016/1 NE/X014991/1