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Robots, satellites and seals equipped with head sensors have been used to understand why there is a hole the size of South Carolina in the Antarctic ice floe.
Some antecedents: In 1976, researchers discovered that a huge hole sometimes appears in the floating ice that forms each winter over the Weddell Sea in Antarctica. Why the hole (known as "polynya") is a mystery, until now. The phenomenon seemed to have disappeared, but it reappeared in 2016 and 2017, which allowed researchers to study it.
Data gathering: A team from the University of Washington collected data from three sources: satellites, floating robots and elephant seals with temperature probes glued to their heads (do not worry, they do not get hurt and fall naturally after a few months). Because seals often dive to extreme depths – we know that they reach a depth of 2 km -, researchers have access to areas of the ocean that they did not have. not yet able to study.
A discovery: With the help of these data, the team concluded that the recent polynyas resulted from a combination of intense thunderstorm, an underwater mountain, a more salty water and unusual ocean conditions. Their conclusions were published in an article by Nature.
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