In the first study to consider the long-term evolution of the rivers that flow beneath glaciers, researchers have new insights into the future of Antarctica’s melting ice that may change the way climate scientists predict the effects of a warming planet.
In the first study to consider the long-term evolution of the rivers that flow beneath glaciers, researchers have new insights into the future of Antarctica’s melting ice that may change the way climate scientists predict the effects of a warming planet.
Researchers from the University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Environment led the project that studied Aurora Subglacial Basin and modelled its subglacial hydrology —the flow of water at the base of the ice. They compared drainage systems at various times ranging from 34 million years ago to 75 years from now.
They found that these rivers are dynamic, changing from one period to another. Aurora Subglacial Basin is in East Antarctica and is grounded below sea level, a particularly unstable configuration that could lead to rapid and irreversible retreat, and an increase of four metres in the global ocean level if all the ice in the region melted.
Read More: University of Waterloo
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