Discovery

Scientists from British Antarctic Survey (BAS), Durham University and Germany’s Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) studying three glaciers in the Amundsen Sea Embayment. These place known as region currently the focus of intense international scientific attention because it is changing faster than anywhere else on the WAIS and it has the potential to raise sea-level by around 1.5 metres.

ScienceDaily reported, from the boulders deposited, the scientist able to construct a long-term picture of glacier behaviour in the region. Recent ice sheet changes will determine whether these are part of a natural retreat since the end of the last glacial period (about 20 thousands years ago), or if they are a result of recent human-induced climate change.

The Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE) known as a place that has always caused glaciologists concern. Here the bedrock beneath the ice is a long way below sea-level and the ice is only kept in place because it is thick enough to rest on the bed.

Then, by investigating how long the boulders have been exposed to cosmic radiation rather than being shielded by ice or sediment, scientist found a conclusion : Pine Island Glacier has ‘thinned’ by around 4 centimetres per year over the past 5,000 years, while Smith and Pope Glaciers thinned by just over 2 cm per year during the past 14,500 years. These rates are more than 20 times slower than recent changes: satellite, airborne and ground based observations made since the 1990s show that Pine Island Glacier has thinned by around 1.6 metres per year in recent years.

Adapted from materials provided by British Antarctic Survey.