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Scientists have gathered unprecedented evidence showing how surface melting may accelerate Antarctic glacier movement, offering new insights into ice loss and its potential consequences in a warming world.
Image of a glacier in the sea. Credit: Pixabay. In a new study published in the journal Nature Communications, a team of researchers has confirmed that water from melting ice and snow, also called meltwater, found at the surface of glaciers can drain into their bases, causing glaciers in Antarctica to speed up and move towards the ocean.
“The Antarctic ice sheet holds 90% of the world’s glacier ice. If it were to melt completely and drain into the ocean, sea levels would rise by about 60 meters,” said Professor Shin Sugiyama of Hokkaido University.
Speeding up glacier movement
The researchers drilled boreholes 550 metres deep into the Langhovde Glacier in East Antarctica, where they then lowered pressure sensors and cameras into the glacier bed.
“Using a hot-water jet, we could carefully and rapidly drill into the glacier and measure the water pressure right at its base,” explained Sugiyama.
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