All articles tagged with #glaciology
A new review in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment warns that the Wilkes Subglacial Basin in East Antarctica, long considered stable, may be vulnerable to rapid ice loss. The basin contains enough ice to raise global sea levels by 3 to 4 meters. Scientists urge urgent fieldwork to map the region, as current data is limited to radar and satellite observations.
Recent satellite data indicates the Thwaites Glacier’s eastern ice shelf is collapsing and its western shelf has effectively vanished, removing critical structural support. This loss accelerates the glacier’s flow into the ocean, potentially destabilizing the larger West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Over the past 47 years, melting has contributed approximately 3.1 centimeters to global sea levels, with projections suggesting up to 10 feet of rise if the ice sheet fully disintegrates. The author advocates for consumer boycotts and reduced spending as immediate actions to mitigate climate change.
A new study confirms that Earth's Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have lost 12 trillion tons of ice since 1979, contributing to a 31.4 mm rise in global sea levels. The loss is primarily driven by ocean warming accelerating glacier flow rather than surface melting.
A World Weather Attribution team says Nepal’s devastating August flood was not caused by a single event but by a cascade of climate‑driven factors: a Langtang Lirung rock–ice collapse likely weakened by a 2015 earthquake, thawing permafrost and glacier melt that increased water and rock pressure, and unusually warm regional conditions that intensified slope destabilization. July–August temperatures are about 1.5°C warmer locally and annual temperatures around 2°C higher, with the zero-degree line rising in the Himalayas. The flood roared more than 20 miles downstream, killing at least 1,300 and leaving more than 5,000 missing. The scientists say human‑caused climate change preconditioned the disaster and warn that current early‑warning systems couldn’t have foreseen it; cutting fossil fuel pollution is needed to avert more such events.
Researchers document a red, iron‑oxidizing brine outflow from Taylor Glacier in Antarctica, captured across three instruments during Sep–Oct 2018; the event briefly slowed ice flow and cooled near-base lake water, with the red color arising after exposure to air. The observation supports a model of pressurized brine injection through basal crevasses but leaves the trigger mechanism unsettled, and scientists call for expanded, high-frequency monitoring to determine how often such discharges occur.
Researchers analyzing data compiled from geology, gravity, magnetic measurements and crust models report a massive, previously unrecognized structure beneath two miles of Antarctic ice—the East Antarctic Fan-shaped Basin Province—integrating Wilkes and Aurora subglacial basins with Lake Vostok into a single feature. The formation, likely due to distributed rotational extension over millions of years, could significantly influence ice flow and landscape evolution across about half of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, though further corroboration is needed.
Researchers show Blood Falls is driven by episodic bursts of hypersaline brine from subglacial channels beneath Taylor Glacier, triggered by pressure shifts; as brine bursts through ice, iron oxidizes to create the red water, and these pulses affect subglacial pressure and ice flow, reshaping our understanding of Antarctic glaciology.
Scientists have linked Antarctica’s Blood Falls red outflow to episodic subglacial brine drainage beneath Taylor Glacier, showing the rust color marks rapid pressure changes and hidden water movement under the ice, a process that briefly slows glacier flow and disturbs the adjacent lake’s stratification, revealing a millennia‑old brine system with implications for monitoring subglacial hydrology amid warming.
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.
Researchers deployed a 10-km fiber-optic cable to monitor a Greenland glacier and detected massive underwater waves generated by iceberg calving. These internal waves keep warm seawater in contact with the glacier base, creating a calving multiplier that speeds up melt and could amplify ice loss and influence ocean circulation.
A study by researchers from the University of Vienna and ETH Zurich finds Earth’s day is lengthening by about 1.33 milliseconds per century due to climate‑driven mass redistribution from melting polar ice and mountain glaciers, moving water from land to oceans and slowing Earth's rotation. This unprecedented pace in 3.6 million years could subtly affect GPS satellites and space missions over time, though the change is far too small for people to notice; by the end of the century, climate-driven effects could rival the Moon's influence on day length.
New research published in Antarctic Science explains Blood Falls: the red water is iron oxide formed by ancient subterranean bacteria, while the liquid is a hypersaline brine kept unfrozen at -20°C; eruptions occur when pressure builds in subglacial channels beneath Taylor Glacier, forcing brine out in bursts and briefly slowing the glacier, with warming's future effects still unknown.
Scientists link Antarctica’s Blood Falls red plume to a subglacial brine drainage event beneath Taylor Glacier, showing the red water is a signal of pressure changes and hidden water movement under the ice. The discharge temporarily lowered surface ice velocity and disturbed lake stratification, highlighting a tight ice–rock–lake connection and suggesting expanded sensor networks for future study.
Weather delays finally allowed scientists to set up a field camp on Antarctica's fast-melting Thwaites Glacier. Over the coming weeks they will bore about half a mile into the ice to deploy instruments in the warming ocean beneath, seeking to understand how seawater is eroding the glacier and what its collapse could mean for global sea levels. The temporary camp includes ten single-occupancy tents, a science tent and two toilet tents after helicopter landings were previously blocked by clouds.
A Geophysical Research Letters study reports 362 previously unrecognized earthquakes linked mainly to Thwaites Glacier between 2010 and 2023, highlighting heightened fragility and urging a dedicated seismic network to monitor rapid glacial changes and potential global sea-level impacts.