How hidden lakes threaten Antarctic Ice Sheet stability
There is a series of lakes beneath Thwaites Glacier, part of an extensive network of meltwater drainage channels. In 2013, seven subglacial lakes, that were more than 2 km beneath Thwaites Glacier, suddenly all drained at the same time, releasing around 7 cubic kilometres of freshwater into the Amundsen Sea.
The new research, based on CryoSat data and published in Nature Communications, underscores the Antarctic ice sheet’s sensitivity to subglacial dynamics and its complex interactions with ocean conditions.
The freshwater in these lakes is lighter than the salty ocean, when it drained through the grounding line of Thwaites in 2013, at a depth of roughly 1 km below sea level, it triggered a turbulent upwelling of warm, deep ocean water all the way to the ocean surface. This influx of warmer water accelerated melting at the base of the Thwaites Ice Shelf and contributed to the melt of offshore sea ice, opening a polynya. Crucially, this took place in an area of the ice shelf that controls the rate at which the ice inland flows, the buttressing effect of ice shelves. By thinning and melting, the ice shelf lost some of its ability to hold inland ice causing it to speed up into the ocean.
Read full story: https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/FutureEO/CryoSat/How_hidden_lakes_threaten_Antarctic_Ice_Sheet_stability
Credits: ESA/University of Edinburgh/Planetary Visions
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7 kilomètres cubes d'eau douce, c'est un sacré volume !
Science deserves the eyeballs that the worst slop the algorithm can find gets on today's YouTube. Instead, because it doesn't promote addictive engagement like other content is often made to do, it gets buried.
Stay working on that science, ESA. You're quietly working to benefit all humanity with your work on Earth (and elsewhere), and I appreciate everyone who plays a part in that, even if many humans don't, or even can't.
There has to be life in those hidden lakes right? I wonder what creatures live there
At least we will get to see what has been hiding for so long from the people that lived there a long long time ago.
interesting video
Thank you for this information.
Thanks for this CRITICAL coverage
Automatic translation to Italian language audio is low quality.
We people are getting rid of the planet we live in!
I wonder what kind of life is down there
The time lapse video was my favorite. Time stamps or a progress bar would have been nice.
AND WHEN ARE YOU GONNA STOP TAKING US FOR FOOLS ?…………ET QUAND ALLEZ VOUS ARRÊTER D’ÊTRE AUSSI …. PATHETIQUE ? D'EMERTHER AKRIJ