During an unprecedented scientific campaign on an Antarctic glacier notorious for contributions to sea-level, researchers took first-ever images at the glacier’s foundations on the ocean floor.
During an unprecedented scientific campaign on an Antarctic glacier notorious for contributions to sea-level, researchers took first-ever images at the glacier’s foundations on the ocean floor. The area is key to Thwaites Glacier’s potential to become more dangerous, and in the coming months, the research team hopes to give the world a clearer picture of its condition.
The images, taken by a robotic underwater vehicle, were part of a broad set of data collected in a variety of experiments by an international team. The International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC) announced the completion of this first-ever major research venture on the glacier coincident with the 200-year anniversary of the discovery of Antarctica in 1820.
Already, Thwaites accounts for about four percent of global sea-level rise. Researchers have had concerns that a tipping point in the stability at its foundations could result in a run-away collapse of the glacier and boost sea levels by as much as 25 inches. By studying multiple aspects of Thwaites, the ITGC wants to understand more about the likelihood that the glacier the size of Florida may reach such instability in the coming decades.
Read more at Georgia Institute of Technology
Image by Dirk (Beeki®) Schumacher from Pixabay
