Melt Rate At Base Of Thwaites Glacier (Antarctica) 150% Higher Than Thought (Cool Video In Post)

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Hidden from view by ice kilometres thick, there is a vast network of lakes and streams under the Antarctic ice sheet. Using a decade of altimetry data from European Space Agency’s (ESA) CryoSat satellite, researchers at the University of Edinburgh, including a scientist with the PROPHET project of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC), have made an unexpected discovery about how lakes beneath Thwaites Glacier drain and recharge in quick succession.

Meltwater beneath the ice arises from frictional heating as the ice flows over the bedrock, as well as from geothermal heat coming from below the bedrock. Measurements of geothermal heat flux beneath the ice are particularly difficult to obtain and there are large differences between the various recent estimates. It is important that our knowledge of the distribution of meltwater and the geothermal heat flux is improved because both factors influence the speed the ice flows into the ocean.

While subglacial meltwater is hidden from view by kilometres-thick ice, its movement beneath the ice causes tiny movements on the surface of the ice, which, remarkably, can be detected and monitored from space.

A study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters in December 2020 describes how a decade of radar altimetry observations have revealed a network of four subglacial lakes under Thwaites Glacier, which drained and recharged in two events observed within that time period. By comparing the rates to modelled estimates, the team found that previous models underestimated the rate of basal melting by 150%. This finding will help glaciologists reassess models and improve predictions of how the ice sheet might behave in the future.

EDIT

https://climatecrocks.com/2021/01/15/under-antarctic-ice-lakes-ebb-and-flow/

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1. brilliant!

So much complex information presented in such a short period of time. Scary as well.