Marine ice cliff instability (Q787)

Subject, term, tag: Marine ice cliff instability

Marine ice cliff instability (MICI)

Language	Label	Description	Also known as
English	Marine ice cliff instability	Subject, term, tag: Marine ice cliff instability	Marine ice cliff instability (MICI)

Statements

Instance of

Category

source version

IPCC Glossary v1.5

1 reference

Source

https://apps.ipcc.ch/glossary/

date accessed

27 May 2026

Part of

Working Group I: Climate Change 2021 – The Physical Science Basis

0 references

Definition

A hypothetical mechanism of an ice cliff failure. In case a marine-terminated ice sheet loses its buttressing ice shelf, an ice cliff can be exposed. If the exposed ice cliff is tall enough (about 800 m of the total height, or about 100 m of the above-water part), the stresses at the cliff face exceed the strength of the ice, and the cliff fails structurally in repeated calving events. (English)