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Ice Sheet

All articles tagged with #ice sheet

Ancient Ocean Hidden Under West Antarctica Revealed by Deep Ice Drill
science7 days ago

Ancient Ocean Hidden Under West Antarctica Revealed by Deep Ice Drill

A multinational team drilled beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, reaching 523 meters of ice and 228 meters of ancient rock and sediment, and found marine organisms and shell fragments that indicate parts of the region were once open ocean. These findings shed light on past warmer climates over the last roughly 23 million years and could help improve predictions of future sea-level rise as the ice sheet retreat cycles are better understood.

Greenland’s Hidden Ice Boils with Pasta-Style Convection
earth-science9 days ago

Greenland’s Hidden Ice Boils with Pasta-Style Convection

New computer modeling of Greenland’s ice sheet suggests deep plume-like structures arise from thermal convection—a heat-driven, slow churning process that may make some ice softer than previously thought. While this explains the plumes, researchers caution softer ice alone doesn’t automatically mean faster melt or higher sea-level rise, and further studies are needed to understand the full implications for the ice sheet’s mass balance and coastal impacts.

Antarctic ice yields record-breaking 23-million-year climate core
science9 days ago

Antarctic ice yields record-breaking 23-million-year climate core

An international SWAIS2C team drilled a 523‑metre hole through West Antarctica’s Crary Ice Rise to recover a 228‑metre sediment core—the deepest ever retrieved beneath an ice sheet. Preliminary dating, based on fossilized algae, suggests a 23‑million-year archive that includes warmer-than-present periods, providing new insight into how far the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has retreated in the past and whether warming could trigger irreversible loss, with significant implications for future sea levels.

Pink Rocks Uncover Hidden Giant Beneath Antarctic Ice
environment14 days ago

Pink Rocks Uncover Hidden Giant Beneath Antarctic Ice

Pink granite boulders on Antarctica’s Hudson Mountains led scientists to a vast, buried granite deposit beneath Pine Island Glacier—about 100 km wide and 7 km thick. Dating places the rocks at roughly 175 million years old, and gravity surveys reveal the hidden under-ice structure. The find helps explain how the ice sheet moved in the past and how it may respond to future sea-level changes, improving models of ice dynamics.

Underground Greenland Layer Could Speed Up Global Sea-Level Rise
science1 month ago

Underground Greenland Layer Could Speed Up Global Sea-Level Rise

A UCSD-led study using earthquake-generated seismic waves reveals a complex, hidden bed beneath Greenland's ice that includes sediments and hard rock. This subsurface mosaic can alter ice flow, as smoother or weaker bases allow faster glacier movement, especially when meltwater reaches the base. The finding suggests Greenland's contribution to sea-level rise could accelerate faster than current models predict, underscoring the need for denser seismic networks and integrated ice-sheet models to improve forecasts.

Antarctica's Past Collapse Signals Future Climate Risks
science2 months ago

Antarctica's Past Collapse Signals Future Climate Risks

About 9,000 years ago, a rapid collapse of part of Antarctica's East Antarctic Ice Sheet occurred due to warm ocean currents, leading to significant ice loss and potential implications for future sea level rise as modern warming may trigger similar feedback mechanisms. The study highlights the role of warm deep water and meltwater feedbacks in accelerating ice sheet disintegration, emphasizing the importance of understanding ocean-ice interactions in predicting future sea level changes.