Data from: Subglacial discharge accelerates future retreat of Denman and Scott Glaciers, East Antarctica

Ice shelf basal melting is the primary mechanism driving mass loss from the Antarctic Ice Sheet, yet it is unknown how the localized melt enhancement from subglacial discharge will impact future Antarctic glacial retreat. Here, we develop a parameterization of ice shelf basal melt that accounts for both ocean and subglacial discharge forcing and apply it in future projections of Denman and Scott Glaciers, East Antarctica, through 2300. In forward simulations, subglacial discharge accelerates retreat of these systems into the deepest continental trench on Earth by 25 years. During this retreat, Denman Glacier alone contributes 0.33 mm/yr to global sea level rise, comparable to half of the contemporary sea level contribution of the entire Antarctic Ice Sheet. Our results stress the importance of resolving complex interactions between the ice, ocean, and subglacial environments in future Antarctic Ice Sheet projections. 

In this data publication, we present the model output and results associated with the following manuscript submitted to Science Advances: "Subglacial discharge will accelerate retreat of Denman and Scott Glaciers, East Antarctica". We include yearly ice sheet model output between 2017-2300 for models that do and do not resolve subgalcial discharge in the melt calculation. We also include the ice sheet model's initial state. In addition, we include all ocean forcing time-series (temperature and salinity for the control, low emission, and high emission climate forcing scenarios) and the present-day chanellized subglacial discharge flux field over the Denman and Scott Glacier model domain, which are used as input into the melt parameterization. Lastly, we include a MATLAB script that contains the code used for ice shelf melt rate computation as well as a "README" file with further information on all data in this publication.