Proglacial Lake Drainage Events Drive Fast Grounding Line Advance in a Warming Climate

Proglacial lakes along the retreating margin of the Laurentide ice sheet (LIS) significantly influenced the ice sheet's dynamics. This study investigates the interaction between proglacial lake drainage events and ice sheet evolution during deglaciation. Using a flowline ice sheet model, we demonstrate that abrupt lake drainage caused by the opening of spillways during the retreat of the ice sheet can temporarily reverse ice retreat and trigger rapid grounding line advance despite ongoing climate warming. We also show that ice shelf regrounding on a retrograde lake bed can follow lake drainage and further amplify ice sheet advance. These processes can decouple ice dynamics from climate forcing, offering a non-climatic mechanism to explain the observed highly irregular ice margin fluctuations of the LIS. Our findings suggest that proglacial lakes might play an important role in modulating ice sheet evolution in warming climates.