attributed to him, Alexandra Mazur / University of Gothenburg
The R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer ship, used by scientists, is photographed from a drone in front of Thwaites Glacier in February 2019
Roughly the size of Parana or the UK, the Thwaites glacier in Antarctica is under constant surveillance – and work published in early September shows that the collapse of part of this gigantic structure could happen faster than expected.
With the complete dissolution of this giant, the level of the oceans could rise by 0.9-3 meters, according to the project of scientists.
To come to these conclusions, a group of scientists from several countries decided to analyze the past of this glacier to predict what its future could be.
Ice diving
They analyzed the sea floor near the glacier and the geological formations located there.
So, they turned to Rán, a motorized orange robot capable of withstanding extreme conditions of temperature and pressure.
attributed to him, Anna and Helen / University of Gothenburg
The Rán autonomous vehicle is among the sea ice in front of Thwaites, after a 20-hour mission mapping the sea floor
During an expedition carried out in 2019, the equipment spent 20 hours collecting images and data from the ocean floor just in front of Thwaites known in English as icy doomsday (or “icy apocalypse” with free translation).
During that time, he researched an area equivalent to the city of Houston in the United States at a depth of 700 meters.
This allowed scientists to gain clues about the glacier’s past, including times when it also experienced major retreat and melting.
“This was a groundbreaking study of the ocean floor, which was only possible thanks to recent technological advances,” physical oceanographer Anna Wolin, of the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, described in a press release.
“The images collected by Rán give us vital information about the processes that occur at the junction between the glacier and the ocean floor,” he adds.
attributed to him, Alistair Graham/University of South Florida
3D image of the sea floor in front of Thwaites, taken by the Rán . spacecraft
Results
The marine survey revealed 160 parallel ridges, which are geological “footprints” on the glacier’s previous retreats.
“It’s like you’re looking at a tide gauge on the sea floor,” marine geophysicist Alastair Graham, from the University of South Florida in the USA, and lead author of the research paper summarizes.
“It really surprised me how beautiful the data obtained was,” he adds.
attributed to him, Frank Nietzsche
Scientists Alistair Graham (right) and Robert Larter (left) look at the crumbling glacial face of Thwaites Beach.
According to experts, the new information serves as a kind of “crystal ball” about Thwaites: by revealing what happened in the past, it helps to understand what may happen in the near future.
And what do the results show? At some point in the past 200 years, the glacier front has lost contact with the sea floor and retreated (or collapsed) at a rate of 2.1 kilometers per year.
This phenomenon would have occurred in a short period of time, less than six months.
This rebound speed of 2.1 kilometers per year is twice the rate documented between 2011 and 2019 through satellite images.
“Our results indicate very rapid retreats of the glacier over the past two centuries,” Graham concluded.
said marine geophysicist Robert Larter, co-author of the work and a member of the British Antarctic Survey Group.
It is clear that the results need to be confirmed by other studies in the region. However, the research represents a change of perspective, experts say.
It was once thought that the Antarctic ice sheets were slow to respond to changes in the environment – but recent geological evidence shows that this can happen much faster than expected.
As stated at the beginning of the report, the dumping of billions of tons of ice into the ocean each year reinforces the impact that these changes can have around the world, especially in coastal cities.
Scientists analyzing the area calculate that the total loss of Thwaites and nearby glaciers would represent a rise of 0.9 to 3 meters in sea level.
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