Icefin Finds Thwaites Crevices Melting Up to 10 Times Faster Through 600-Meter Borehole
Updated
Updated · en.clickpetroleoegas.com.br · May 25
Icefin Finds Thwaites Crevices Melting Up to 10 Times Faster Through 600-Meter Borehole
1 articles · Updated · en.clickpetroleoegas.com.br · May 25
Icefin’s dive through a roughly 600-meter borehole beneath West Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier found the fastest melting in crevices, sloped walls and terrace-like steps rather than across the flat ice base.
Nature studies said flatter sections were melting only about 2 to 5 meters a year near the grounding line because cooler water reduced heat mixing, but warm, saltier water concentrated erosion in irregular cracks.
The 3.5-meter robot reached a cavity 1.5 to 2 kilometers from the grounding line, carrying cameras, sonar and ocean sensors into an area satellites, ships and divers cannot directly observe.
That hidden melting matters because Thwaites’ grounding zone has retreated 14 kilometers since the late 1990s, showing the glacier remains unstable even where average basal melt looks lower than some models expected.
A full collapse of Thwaites over centuries could raise global sea levels by about 65 centimeters, and scientists say the new data show that risk cannot be judged by average melt rates alone.
A robot found the 'doomsday glacier' melting in unexpected ways. Are our dire sea-level predictions actually wrong?
Thwaites Glacier's eastern shelf is shattering now. What happens to sea levels when this massive ice block breaks off?