Underwater robot observed ‘end of the world glacier’ for the first time and worst suspicion confirmed

For the first time, scientists were able to obtain data from the subsoil of the Thwaites Glacier, also known as the “End of the World Glacier” for its potential contribution to sea elevation in Antarctica.

Scientists have found that the glacier’s hot water supply is larger than previously thought, which melt fear faster and an acceleration of the flow of ice.

With the help of Ran submarineWithout a crew, they made their way under the Thwaites Glacier front, the researchers made a series of new findings, which they published in the journal Science Advances.

Professor Karen Heywood from University of East Anglia, in the United Kingdom, explains in a press release that “it was the Ran’s first foray into the polar regions and its exploration of the waters under the pack ice was much more successful than we had dared to hope. We plan to build on these exciting discoveries with new missions under the ice next year, ”he said.

The submersible measured, among other things, the strength, temperature, salinity and oxygen content of ocean currents passing under the glacier.

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Global sea level is affected by the amount of ice on land, and the greatest uncertainty in the forecast is the future course of the West Antarctic ice sheet, says Anna Wahlin, professor of oceanography at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and principal author. of the new study.

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is responsible for the ten percent of the current rate of sea level rise; But it is also the ice of West Antarctica that has the most potential to increase this rate because the fastest changes in the world occur in the Thwaites Glacier.

Due to its location and shape, the Thwaites is particularly sensitive to the hot and salty ocean currents that make their way there. This process can cause an accelerated thaw at the bottom of the glacier and the inward displacement of the so-called stranding zone, the area where the ice passes from resting on the seabed to floating in the ocean.

Due to its inaccessible location, far from research stations, in an area often blocked by thick sea ice and numerous icebergs, there has been a great dearth of in situ measurements of this area. This means that there are large gaps in the knowledge of ice-ocean boundary processes in this region.

Even if the amount of ice that melts from hot water is not much compared to other global sources of fresh water, heat transport has an important effect locally and may indicate that the glacier is not stable over time.

Observations show that the warm water is approaching pinch points on all sides, critical places where the ice connects to the seabed and ensures the stability of the pack ice. The thaw around these attachment points can lead to instability and retreat of the pack ice and, later, detachment of the glacier upstream.

Anna Wahlin states that “the good news is that now, for the first time, we are collecting the data needed to model the dynamics of the Thwaite Glacier. These data will help us to better estimate the thaw in the future, ”he continues. With the help of new technologies, we will be able to improve models and reduce the great uncertainty that currently exists around global variations in sea level ”.

With DPA information