Sediment wedges not stabilizing West Antarctic Ice Sheet

The stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is uncertain as climate changes. An ice sheet such as the West Antarctic Ice Sheet that is grounded well below sea level on a bed that slopes toward the interior of the sheet is believed to be unstable: when the grounding zone, where the grounded sheet transitions into floating ice, retreats inland, it can potentially lead to massive amounts of ice becoming ungrounded and floating into the ocean, unless something such as a wedge of sediment stabilizes the ice sheet.

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