Melt rate of Antarctic 'doomsday glacier' slowed by freshwater layer

March 2, 2023
by
New Scientist
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Melt rate of Antarctic 'doomsday glacier' slowed by freshwater layer

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Using a robotic submersible called Icefin, scientists from the British Atlantic Survey took an up-close look underneath Antarctica’s Thwaites ice shelf to study melt rates inside crevasses and at the grounding line - the point at which the ice shelf starts to float.

They measured warming waters around a degree and a half above freezing which is expected to drive high glacial melting. However, the team also discovered freshwater at the ice base creating a very strong density gradient. That density gradient may be preventing the heat from getting from the ocean into the ice.

This surprising new detail may help improve computing models for predicting the melt rate of the Thwaites ice shelf.

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