Why scientists are listening to these ice shelves in Antarctica sing

"Antarctica is the closest thing you can to earth," said Dr. Richard Aster, a geophysicist with Colorado State University.

The most desolate place on earth is the icy region of the south pole. Harsh weather can not stop at a time, but Dr. Aster and a team of scientists spent two years there from 2015 to 2016, measuring and listening to vibrations in sea ice.

"Sounds a bit like a didgeridoo. It's got a very interesting tone to it, "said Dr. Aster.

The sound is not alien, its planetary. It is trapped seismic waves vibrating across the world's largest expanse of floating ice.

The Ross Ice Shelf, in Antarctica, is pancake flat, and the size of Texas.

Dr. Aster and his team of scientists deployed the worlds largest network of snowmaking in the snow and in the compacted layers of snow called Ross Ice Shelf.

Dr. Rick Aster – Colorado State University

"Dr. Aster," said Dr. Aster, "We're seeing this as a way to really listen to the voice of the ice shelf, and understand how it might be changing in time."

Aster said that it is the world of the world and the climate of the planet.

Ninety percent of the earth's ice is locked in the glaciers of Antarctica.

"Ice shelves are the cork in the bottle that helps hold back some of these glaciers. So we care about their health, and this is one way to monitor them, "said Dr. Aster.

While listening to the soundtrack of these ice vibrations, Aster and his team made an important discovery.

"What we believe is happening, and the fact that we are not really able to do this," said Dr. Aster.

That means there is a record of change within these three tones.

"The stability of ice shelves is a very important problem, and it is a better method," said Aster.

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