About 90% of the world's fresh water reserves are concentrated in the ice of Antarctica. But the continental ice cover is uneven: in the east of the continent centuries-old massive ice is located on land, its average thickness of about 1, 500 km. The ice here is inactive and slowly slides to the water.
West Antarctica is more vulnerable. The glaciers here do not rest on a solid foundation, but actually swim in sea water. At higher temperatures in their place would be an ocean with a couple of islands.
Doomsday Glacier
This definition can be heard when it comes to the Thwaites Glacier. By area equal to approximately Great Britain, it is located in West Antarctica. Glaciologists call it the most "important" and "risky."
According to space observations, water flowing into the ocean when it melts provides 4% of the annual rise in sea level. But even more alarming, the rate of ice melting is constantly increasing.
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The total volume of water contained in it is huge. If the glacier completely melts, the level of the World Ocean will rise by more than 50 cm.
And the ice reserves in the West Antarctic ice sheet, in the center of which the Twights are located, are able to raise the sea level on the planet by more than 3 m when melting.
Twights Studies
This year, a large and complex scientific program for large-scale scientific research of the glacier began. This is a joint five-year project of Great Britain and the USA.
In addition to all the typical difficulties of Antarctic research that polar explorers encounter, this project also has its own specific problems. One of them is the remoteness of the glacier from stationary polar stations. Thwaites, even by Antarctic standards, are far away. It takes several weeks to equip a field camp.
There you need to deliver scientific equipment, fuel, tents and food. It takes about a dozen Hercules cargo flights to deliver all of this.
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Glacier Drilling
Knowledge of the processes occurring on the glacier is necessary in order to have an idea of a possible future increase in sea level.
The research program involves drilling a through hole in the thickness of the glacier and sampling sea water in order to determine its properties. In this way, researchers hope to determine exactly where the water comes from and why it melts the ice so intensely.
For drilling wells in ice will use hot water. It is estimated that 10, 000 liters of water are required. So, you need to melt 10 tons of snow. Water heated to a temperature of about 95 ° C will be poured into a well with a diameter of 30 cm. The ice temperature is about -25 ° C, the process is not as simple as it seems at first glance.
Scientists Version
As the working hypothesis of the Thwaites quick melting, scientists consider the complex interaction of a number of factors. The main role in the process is played by ocean currents.
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The waters of the Gulf Stream, cooling between Greenland and Iceland, sink to the depths, and are transported by the Atlantic conveyor to the shores of Antarctica.
This water mixes with the waters of the Antarctic circumpolar current flowing at a depth of 530 m. An increase in the temperature of the Pacific Ocean shifts the direction of winds from the coast of West Antarctica, which allows warm, deep water to rise above the continental shelf.
An invasion of warm water under the ice causes the forces to slowly destroy the ice. The front of the Thwaites Glacier, nearly 160 km wide, crashes into the sea at a speed of up to 3 km per year. The scale is overwhelming. Therefore, researchers are so worried about the state of the glacier.
