Disentangling uncertainty in ISMIP6 Antarctic sub-shelf melting and 2300 sea level rise projections

Abstract. Ocean-driven ice shelf melting is a major contributor of present and future ice loss from the Antarctic Ice Sheet. In the Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project (ISMIP6) Antarctic 2300 projections, sea level rise varies widely, from -0.6 to 4.4 m, highlighting significant uncertainty. Here, we assess drivers of this spread, focussing on sub-shelf melting and dynamic ice loss as well as sectors that have the potential for large-scale, rapid ice loss: the Amundsen Sea, Filchner-Ronne, and Ross sectors, and the Aurora and Wilkes Subglacial Basins. We derive two sensitivity factors for each ISMIP6 simulation: a) a melt sensitivity factor, describing how simulated sub-shelf melt rates respond to ocean thermal forcing changes; and b) a dynamic ice loss sensitivity factor, describing how simulated dynamic ice loss (and hence sea level contribution) responds to cumulative sub-shelf melt changes. Melt sensitivities range from 1.5–21.3 ma⁻¹ K⁻¹, with no clear dependency on the melt parameterisation. Model simulations cluster into two groups based on calving strength. The dynamic ice loss sensitivities range from 0.1 to 2.6 (unitless), with larger variations in the Amundsen sector, and Aurora and Wilkes Subglacial Basins. These sensitivity factors are good predictors of short-term integrated melting and sea level rise, respectively, but are less robust on longer time scales. Our findings show that these factors explain much of the ensemble spread in projected ice loss to 2300. We recommend to further constrain these factors, and advocate for their use in model calibration and emulator design, with the ultimate aim of explaining uncertainties in future projections of sea level rise from Antarctica.