An expedition to the extensive Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica has revealed that warm water under it melts the ice in a staggering rate of about 6 centimeters or 2.4 inches daily.
An international team of researchers traveled to the southernmost part of the continent to study one of the most remote sites on the planet, the Pine Island Glacier. This site has been of particular interest to scientists because it is one of the rapid-changing melting ice masses in Earth which flows to the Amundsen Sea as it melts.
While warm seawater flows under the ice above sea level, scientists have acknowledged that the ice beneath is already melting. With the use of sensors installed across the glacier, the researchers were able to capture the rate of glacial melt under the solid ice.
The findings illustrated the need to understand the melting processes under the huge glaciers and also, how this undersea process will contribute to the global sea-level rise in the future.
David Holland, a professor of mathematics at the Center for Atmosphere Ocean Science at New York University stated, "Intensive melting under the Pine Island ice shelf, as observed in our study, could potentially lead to the speed-up and ultimate break-up of the ice shelf. That's important, as this ice shelf is currently holding back inland ice, and without that restraining force, the Pine Island catchment basin could further contribute to global sea-level rise."
As the glaciers thaw, the water flows down to the ocean, contributing to the rise of the sea levels and as it flows to the ocean, as a natural phenomenon, it also creates and drops icebergs. Another contributing factor of the seal level rise is the rise in the temperature.
The data will aid scientists decipher how the Pine Island Glacier changes and it will help them in formulating more precise models of glacier melt.
The study was published in the Sept. 12 issue of the online journal Science.
