A team of scientists is about to dig into the most inaccessible and least understood part of the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica.
This giant mass of ice, which is about the same size as Great Britain, is one of the largest and fastest-changing glaciers in the world. Studies show that if it collapses, sea levels could rise by 65cm, flooding entire communities. For this reason, Thwaites has been nicknamed the “Doomsday Glacier”.
Although important, very little is still known about the ocean processes that cause it to melt from below. Scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) will now use hot water to create holes in the ice and place instruments in one of the glacier's most critical areas. The aim is to understand exactly how the ice is melting from below, before it's too late.
“This is one of the most important and volatile glaciers on the planet, and we are finally going to see what is happening where it matters most,” said Dr. Peter Davis, physical oceanographer at BAS.
While BAS has been studying Thwaites since 2018, most of the research has focused on the more stable parts of the glacier. The main body of the glacier is riddled with dangerous crevasses, which has made exploration difficult – until now.
To reach this inaccessible area, the team set off from New Zealand on the RV Araon, on a three-week journey to the glacier. Before descending onto the ice themselves, they sent a remotely controlled vehicle to scan the terrain and find cracks hidden beneath the surface.
Once a safe location was found, the team flew by helicopter over 18 miles, making over 40 trips to transport all the equipment. Now, the scientists have just two weeks to complete the excavation mission near the “grounding line,” the point where the glacier rises above the seafloor and becomes a floating ice shelf.
“This is polar science at its finest,” said Dr. Won Sang Lee, expedition leader from the Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI).
“This was an epic journey with no guarantee that we would be able to land on the ice, so to now be on the glacier and ready to deploy instruments is a testament to the skills and expertise of all participants from KOPRI and BAS.”
The team plans to drill 1,000 meters into the ice using a technique developed by BAS. Water is heated to about 90°C and then pumped under high pressure to melt the ice, creating a hole about 30 cm wide to insert instruments and measure ocean temperatures and currents at the site.
Sediment and water samples will also be collected to better understand what happened before and what is happening now at Thwaites. Due to the very low temperatures, the hole will refreeze every one to two days, requiring the process to be repeated.
“This is an incredibly challenging mission,” explained Dr. Davis. “For the first time, we will be receiving daily data from beneath the ice shelf near the grounding line. We will be monitoring in real time how warm ocean water is affecting the ice 1,000 meters below the surface. This is critical for understanding how quickly sea levels may rise.”
Around the world, millions of people live in coastal areas that could be flooded if Thwaites collapses. Data from this expedition will help scientists improve predictions and give governments and communities more time to plan and adapt.
The Simplicity of Thwaites Glacier
Located in the Amundsen Sea, it is slightly smaller than Great Britain and about the same size as Washington state.
Up to 4,000 meters thick; a key part for predicting global sea level rise.
Its interior lies over 2 km below sea level, making it unstable.
The center of the grounding line has moved 14 km since the 1990s.
Acceleration of ice flow since 1973 has increased annual ice discharge by 77%.
The monster connects to most of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, making Thwaites the "gateway" to potential contributions to global sea level rise.
Its collapse could raise sea levels by 1–2 meters, potentially more than doubling the entire West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
This mission is a critical step in understanding the risks that the Doomsday Glacier poses to our planet. /GazetaExpress/
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