A recent study found that there’s warm water lurking beneath the Thwaites glacier, and it’s a major reason why the glacier is melting. Essentially, this discovery highlights a crucial factor contributing to the ice loss in that region.
About Thwaites Glacier
- Thwaites Glacier is 120 km wide, fast-moving glacier located in Antarctica.
- Because of its size (1.9 lakh square km), it contains enough water to raise the world sea level by more than half a metre.
- Its melting already contributes 4% to global sea-level rise each year.
- It is estimated that it would collapse into the sea in 200-900 years.
- Studies have found the amount of ice flowing out of it has nearly doubled over the past 30 years.
- It is important for Antarctica as it slows the ice behind it from freely flowing into the ocean.
- Because of the risk it faces — and poses — Thwaites is often called the Doomsday Glacier.
Key Points
- The study found that the water temperature at the grounding zone, where a glacier transitions between resting on bedrock and floating as an ice shelf, is two degrees higher than the freezing point.
- The grounding line, located beneath a glacier, indicates how quickly the glacier is retreating. As glaciers lose weight and melt, they float off the land, causing the grounding line to move backward.
- When the grounding line retreats, more of the glacier’s underside is exposed to seawater. This exposure increases the likelihood of faster melting, causing the glacier to speed up, stretch out, and thin.
- Ultimately, this continuous retreat of the grounding line leads to a cycle where the glacier melts at an accelerated rate, contributing to further thinning and retreat.
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