Ran Submarine Uncovers Hidden Under-Ice Structures Beneath Dotson Shelf, Then Goes Silent

An autonomous submarine named Ran mapped roughly 54 square miles of the underside of Dotson Ice Shelf in West Antarctica, revealing terraces, teardrop pits, and fractures carved by basal melt, before going silent about ten miles under the shelf. Led by Anna Wåhlin of the University of Gothenburg, Ran’s under-ice maps show how warm Circumpolar Deep Water melts ice from below and concentrates erosion on the western side, with implications for future sea-level rise. The mission, conducted in 2022 and reported in Science Advances, underscores how hidden melt machinery challenges current models while leaving Ran’s fate undetermined.