Vulnerability of Antarctica's ice shelves to meltwater-driven fracture.

Atmospheric warming threatens to accelerate the retreat of the Antarctic Ice Sheet by increasing surface melting and facilitating 'hydrofracturing', where meltwater flows into and enlarges fractures, potentially triggering ice-shelf collapse. The collapse of ice shelves that buttress the ice sheet accelerates ice flow and sea-level rise. However, we do not know if and how much of the buttressing regions of Antarctica's ice shelves are vulnerable to hydrofracture if inundated with water.