Archyde
April 10, 2021 by archyde
Unmanned submarine’Ran’ For the first time, the situation under the Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica, also known as the’Glacier on the End of the Earth’, has been revealed. An unmanned submersible called’Ran’ approached the bottom of the glacier on the sea side and collected various data, raising concerns that the ice would melt faster as warm water was flowing in more than originally expected.
According to the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, an international research team led by Dr. Anna Vohlin, a professor of oceanography at the university, published the results of a study on the situation under the Swaits glacier, which was confirmed by an unmanned submersible, in the scientific journal Science Advances.
Thwaites glacier in Western Antarctica is warming and melting faster than previously thought.
Data obtained from a cold-resistant underwater robot reveals Thwaites, dubbed the doomsday glacier , is buffeted by more warm water than was believed.
Thwaites in Western Antarctica is the size of Britain and melting at an alarming rate.
If it was to collapse, it would lead to an increase in sea levels of around two feet (65cm) and already accounts for four per cent of the world s sea level rise each year.
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Thwaites glacier in Western Antarctica (pictured) is warming and melting faster than previously thought
Credit: Filip Stedt
For the first time, researchers have been able to obtain data from underneath Thwaites Glacier, also known as the Doomsday Glacier . They find that the supply of warm water to the glacier is larger than previously thought, triggering concerns of faster melting and accelerating ice flow.
With the help of the uncrewed submarine Ran that made its way under Thwaites glacier front, the researchers have made a number of new discoveries. Professor Karen Heywood of the University of East Anglia commented: This was Ran s first venture to polar regions and her exploration of the waters under the ice shelf was much more successful than we had dared to hope. We plan to build on these exciting findings with further missions under the ice next year.
Trek under Thwaites Glacier s ice shelf reveals warm water s threats sciencenews.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sciencenews.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.