Unstable Ice: Antarctic Glacier’s Sudden Collapse Rattles Scientists
Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2023 4:32 am
Unstable Ice: Antarctic Glacier’s Sudden Collapse Rattles Scientists
Read more here:
https://scitechdaily.com/unstable-ice-a ... cientists/
Scientists have found that even seemingly stable glaciers in the Antarctic can “switch very rapidly” and lose large quantities of ice as a result of warmer oceans. This alert follows a study by a team led by glaciologist Benjamin Wallis from the University of Leeds. Using satellite data, the team observed significant changes in the Cadman Glacier, located in the Beascochea Bay area of the West Antarctic Peninsula.
Between November 2018 and May 2021, the glacier retreated eight kilometers as the ice shelf at the end of the glacier — where ice extends out into the sea and is anchored onto the sea floor at what is known as the grounding zone — collapsed.
The ice shelf would have acted as a buttress, slowing the movement of the glacier towards the sea. Surrounded by warmer ocean waters, the scientists believe the ice shelf thinned and became ungrounded, and the ice shelf was no longer able to hold back the glacier.
Read more here:
https://scitechdaily.com/unstable-ice-a ... cientists/
Scientists have found that even seemingly stable glaciers in the Antarctic can “switch very rapidly” and lose large quantities of ice as a result of warmer oceans. This alert follows a study by a team led by glaciologist Benjamin Wallis from the University of Leeds. Using satellite data, the team observed significant changes in the Cadman Glacier, located in the Beascochea Bay area of the West Antarctic Peninsula.
Between November 2018 and May 2021, the glacier retreated eight kilometers as the ice shelf at the end of the glacier — where ice extends out into the sea and is anchored onto the sea floor at what is known as the grounding zone — collapsed.
The ice shelf would have acted as a buttress, slowing the movement of the glacier towards the sea. Surrounded by warmer ocean waters, the scientists believe the ice shelf thinned and became ungrounded, and the ice shelf was no longer able to hold back the glacier.