New research led by marine geophysicist Alastair Graham from the College of Marine Sciences
Images show new to sciencegeological features of the region's surface. Scientists also called the images “a kind of crystal ball” that provides a glimpse into Thwaites’ future. It is also called the "Doomsday Glacier". For both humans and ice sheets, past behavior is key to understanding future behavior. It turned out that Thwaites' pace of retreat was slow compared to the fastest rates of change in the past.
R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer photographed from a drone on the ice edge of Thwaites Glacier in February 2019. Photo: Alexandra Mazur/Gothenburg University
To understand Thwaites' past retreat, scholarsdocumented more than 160 parallel ridges that appeared as the leading edge of the glacier receded and rocked up and down with daily tides. They also analyzed rib-like formations submerged 700 meters below the surface of the ocean and took into account the tidal cycle for the region.
At some point in the last 200 years, duringless than six months, the front of the glacier lost contact with the seabed ridge and was retreating at a rate of more than 2.1 km per year - twice the speed documented using satellites between 2011 and 2019. To collect data, scientists launched a state-of-the-art Rán robotic vehicle equipped with image sensors.
Rán, the Kongsberg HUGIN autonomous submersible, after a 20-hour seafloor mapping mission.
Credit: Anna Wolin/Gothenburg University
"Our results show that impulses are veryrapid retreats have occurred on the Thwaites Glacier over the last two centuries and perhaps as recently as the mid-twentieth century,” the scientists explain. This means that the glacier is not as “calm and predictable” as previously thought and may begin to melt even faster in the future, scientists write.
The massive Thwaites Ice Stream is already in sightin a phase of rapid retreat, which worries scientists. They are trying to figure out how quickly and exactly how much it will “give up” ice to the ocean. According to the latest estimates, the potential consequences of Thwaites' retreat are frightening: the complete loss of the glacier and surrounding ice pools would raise sea levels by one to three meters.
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