All articles tagged with #ice sheet
Researchers drilled 523 meters through Crary Ice Rise in West Antarctica to recover a 228-meter sediment core, capturing a 23-million-year climate record that includes evidence of past open-ocean conditions and ice-margin retreat during warmer periods, informing predictions of how the West Antarctic Ice Sheet may respond to warming and its potential sea-level contribution.
A multinational team drilled beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, reaching 523 meters of ice and 228 meters of ancient rock and sediment, and found marine organisms and shell fragments that indicate parts of the region were once open ocean. These findings shed light on past warmer climates over the last roughly 23 million years and could help improve predictions of future sea-level rise as the ice sheet retreat cycles are better understood.
New computer modeling of Greenland’s ice sheet suggests deep plume-like structures arise from thermal convection—a heat-driven, slow churning process that may make some ice softer than previously thought. While this explains the plumes, researchers caution softer ice alone doesn’t automatically mean faster melt or higher sea-level rise, and further studies are needed to understand the full implications for the ice sheet’s mass balance and coastal impacts.
An international SWAIS2C team drilled a 523‑metre hole through West Antarctica’s Crary Ice Rise to recover a 228‑metre sediment core—the deepest ever retrieved beneath an ice sheet. Preliminary dating, based on fossilized algae, suggests a 23‑million-year archive that includes warmer-than-present periods, providing new insight into how far the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has retreated in the past and whether warming could trigger irreversible loss, with significant implications for future sea levels.
Pink granite boulders found in Antarctica’s Hudson Mountains led scientists to discover a massive granite deposit buried beneath Pine Island Glacier, linking surface clues to the glacier’s past flow and improving predictions of future sea‑level rise.
Pink granite boulders on Antarctica’s Hudson Mountains led scientists to a vast, buried granite deposit beneath Pine Island Glacier—about 100 km wide and 7 km thick. Dating places the rocks at roughly 175 million years old, and gravity surveys reveal the hidden under-ice structure. The find helps explain how the ice sheet moved in the past and how it may respond to future sea-level changes, improving models of ice dynamics.
Researchers using gravity surveys and radiometric dating have uncovered a vast 100-km-wide, 7-km-thick granite deposit buried beneath Pine Island Glacier, dating to about 175 million years ago. The discovery sheds light on subglacial topography, ice-sheet dynamics, and could improve predictions of future sea-level rise.
A high-resolution map created by combining satellite data and physics-based modeling reveals Antarctica’s buried bed beneath the ice, uncovering tens of thousands of subglacial features and a massive under-ice channel in the Maud Subglacial Basin, improving understanding of how the ice sheet may move over time.
Using high-resolution satellite data and Ice Flow Perturbation Analysis, scientists mapped Antarctica’s concealed under-ice landscape—71,997 hills and a 248.5-mile valley in the Maud Subglacial Basin—showing how this hidden terrain governs glacier movement and will improve predictions of global sea‑level rise.
A UCSD-led study using earthquake-generated seismic waves reveals a complex, hidden bed beneath Greenland's ice that includes sediments and hard rock. This subsurface mosaic can alter ice flow, as smoother or weaker bases allow faster glacier movement, especially when meltwater reaches the base. The finding suggests Greenland's contribution to sea-level rise could accelerate faster than current models predict, underscoring the need for denser seismic networks and integrated ice-sheet models to improve forecasts.
Scientists studying the Greenland ice sheet have uncovered ancient clues indicating that future sea-level rise could be worse than expected, highlighting the urgent need to address climate change.
About 9,000 years ago, a rapid collapse of part of Antarctica's East Antarctic Ice Sheet occurred due to warm ocean currents, leading to significant ice loss and potential implications for future sea level rise as modern warming may trigger similar feedback mechanisms. The study highlights the role of warm deep water and meltwater feedbacks in accelerating ice sheet disintegration, emphasizing the importance of understanding ocean-ice interactions in predicting future sea level changes.
Researchers have developed detailed 3D models revealing hidden heat beneath Greenland and northeastern Canada, which influence the ice sheet's response to climate change and could impact future sea level rise predictions by improving understanding of Earth's internal structure and ice-earth interactions.
Scientists discovered a massive, nearly 100 km wide and 7 km thick buried granite body beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, revealed by geological dating and airborne gravity surveys, providing insights into past ice flow and aiding predictions of future sea level rise.
Scientists documented an unprecedented subglacial flood in Greenland, releasing 23 billion gallons of water and forming a large crater, highlighting the impact of climate change on ice sheet dynamics and the importance of satellite technology for environmental monitoring.