Using a robotic submersible called Icefin, scientists at the British Atlantic Survey have taken an up-close look underneath Antarctica’s Thwaites ice shelf, which supports a “doomsday” glacier that may raise sea levels significantly as it melts. The researchers studied 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 fresh water at the ice base that was 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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