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Antarctic ‘Doomsday Glacier’ Is Melting Under Earth’s Internal Heat and Climate Change, Study Finds
- The “Doomsday Glacier” is affected by the heat of the earth’s crust and climate change
- The earth’s crust is only 10 to 15 miles deep below West Antarctica, compared to 25 miles in East Antarctica
- This causes a “geothermal heat flow of up to 150 milliwatts per square meter”
- Thwaites contributes around 4% to annual sea level rise and now loses 80 billion tonnes of ice per year
- Since 1980, it has lost at least 600 billion tonnes of ice, according to experts.
- If Thwaites melted completely, it could cause a potential sea level rise of more than six feet
Antarctica’s “Doomsday Glacier” is not only losing ice rapidly to climate change, but it’s also taking a double whammy from the heat of the Earth itself, a new study suggests.
The Thwaites Glacier – which has been called the “Doomsday Glacier” because of its impact on sea level rise – is affected by the heat of the earth’s crust, as it is only 10 to 15 miles away. deep beneath western Antarctica, up from about 25 miles. in East Antarctica.
The “Doomsday Glacier” is affected by the heat of the earth’s crust and climate change
The Earth’s crust is only 10 to 15 miles deep below West Antarctica, where the Thwaites Glacier is located (pictured), compared to 25 miles in East Antarctica.
This results in a “geothermal heat flux of up to 150 milliwatts per square meter,” lead study author Dr. Ricarda Dziadek said in a statement.
According to the BBC, the Thwaites Glacier contributes about 4% of the annual sea level rise and is said to lose 80 billion tonnes of ice per year.
Since 1980, it has lost at least 600 billion tonnes of ice, according to a 2017 analysis by The New York Times, using data from NASA JPL.
This causes a “geothermal heat flow of up to 150 milliwatts per square meter” and additional heating on the glacier.
Thwaites contributes about 4% of the annual sea level rise and currently loses 80 billion tonnes of ice per year. Since 1980, it has lost at least 600 billion tonnes of ice, according to experts.
Some of the accelerated loss of sea ice can be attributed to rivers hidden beneath the glacier, according to Live Science, but most of it is linked to climate change and rising temperatures.
Researchers examined geomagnetic field data sets from West Antarctica to create new geothermal heat flow maps.
If Thwaites melted completely, it could cause a potential sea level rise of more than six feet
These show how important the second, but equally important, factor is on the glacier and its subsequent loss of ice, although the exact impact is currently unclear.
“The temperature under the glacier depends on a number of factors, for example whether the soil is made up of solid, compact rocks or meters of water-saturated sediment,” explained the co-author and AWI geophysicist. , Dr Karsten Gohl.
“Water conducts rising heat very efficiently. But it can also remove thermal energy before it reaches the bottom of the glacier. ‘
In 2020, researchers obtained the very first images of the underside of the glacier, showing warm turbulent waters beneath the ice cap causing “unstoppable retreat”.
The temperature of the Earth’s crust can vary depending on location, but it can vary between 200C (392F) and 400C (752F) near Moho, according to National Geographic.
The team discovered that it is imperative to examine the heat flow of the earth’s crust when thinking about its future.
“Large amounts of geothermal heat can, for example, cause the bottom of the glacier bed to no longer freeze completely or a constant water film to form on its surface,” Gohl added.
“Both would cause ice masses to slide more easily across the ground. If, in addition, the braking effect of the pack ice were to disappear, as is currently observed in West Antarctica, the flow of glaciers could accelerate considerably due to the increase in geothermal heat. ‘
The enormous basin contains more than six feet of additional potential sea level rise, and a significant melt could put the Thwaites Glacier aptly named “apocalypse”.
The research was published Thursday in the journal Communications Earth & Environment.
THE THWAITES GLACIER RETIREMENT
The Thwaites glacier is slightly smaller than the UK’s total size, approximately the same size as Washington State, and is located in the Amundsen Sea.
It measures up to 4,000 meters (13,100 feet thick) and is considered a key component in making projections of sea level rise on a global scale.
The glacier is receding in the face of a warming ocean and is said to be unstable because its interior is more than two kilometers (1.2 miles) below sea level while on the coast the glacier bottom is quite shallow. .
The Thwaites Glacier is the size of Florida and is located in the Amundsen Sea. It is up to 4000 meters thick and is considered a key component in making projections of sea level rise on a global scale.
The Thwaites Glacier has experienced a significant acceleration in flow since the 1970s.
From 1992 to 2011, the center of the Thwaites ground line retreated nearly 14 kilometers (nine miles).
The annual ice flow of this region as a whole has increased by 77 percent since 1973.
Because its interior connects to the vast portion of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet that lies deep below sea level, the glacier is seen as a gateway to the majority of the potential sea level contribution from West Antarctica.
The collapse of the Thwaites Glacier would cause the global sea level to rise between one and two meters (three and six feet), with a potential of more than double that of the entire West Antarctic ice sheet. .
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