One study concludes that Antarctica’s “Doomsday Glacier” is melting with the Earth’s internal heat and climate change.
- The “Doomsday Glacier” is being affected by the heat of the Earth’s crust and climate change
- The Earth’s crust is only 10-15 miles deep below West Antarctica, compared to 25 miles east of Antarctica.
- This causes a “geothermal heat flow of up to 150 milliwatts per square meter”
- Thwaites contributes about 4% to annual sea level rise and now loses 80 billion tons of ice a year
- Since 1980, it has lost at least 600 billion tons of ice, experts said earlier
- If Thwaites melted completely, it could cause more than six feet of potential sea level rise
Antarctica’s “Doomsday Glacier” not only loses ice quickly due to climate change, but gets twice as hot from Earth’s own heat, according to a new study.
The Thwaites Glacier, which has been called the “Doomsday Glacier” due to its impact on sea level rise, is being affected by the heat of the Earth’s crust, as it is only 10 to 15 miles away. depth below West Antarctica, compared to about 25 kilometers. in East Antarctica.
The “Doomsday Glacier” is being affected by the heat of the Earth’s crust and climate change
The Earth’s crust is only 10-15 miles deep below West Antarctica, where the Thwaites Glacier (pictured) is located, compared to 25 miles from East Antarctica.
This translates into a “geothermal heat flow of up to 150 milliwatts per square meter,” the study’s lead author, Dr. Ricarda Dziadek, said in a statement.
According to the BBC, the Thwaites Glacier contributes about four per cent to annual sea level rise and is now believed to lose 80 billion tonnes of ice a year.
Since 1980, it has lost at least 600 billion tons of ice, according to a 2017 analysis by the New York Times, with data from the NASA JPL.
This causes a “geothermal heat flow of up to 150 milliwatts per square meter” and additional warming in the glacier
Thwaites contributes about 4% to annual sea level rise and now loses 80 billion tons of ice a year. Since 1980, it has lost at least 600 billion tons of ice, experts said earlier
Some of the accelerated sea ice loss can be attributed to rivers hidden under the glacier, according to Live Science, but most are related to climate change and rising temperatures.
The researchers examined data sets from geomagnetic fields in West Antarctica to create new geothermal heat flux maps.
If Thwaites melted completely, it could cause more than six feet of potential sea level rise
These show the importance of the second, but equally important, factor on the glacier and its subsequent ice loss, even if the exact impact is currently unclear.
“The temperature at the bottom of the glacier depends on several factors, for example, whether the soil is made up of compact solid rock or meters of water-saturated sediment,” explained AWI co-author and geophysicist Dr. . Karsten Gohl.
‘Water conducts the rising heat very efficiently. But it can also transport heat energy before it reaches the bottom of the glacier.
In 2020, researchers obtained the first images of the bottom of the glacier, showing warm, turbulent water beneath the ice sheet that is causing an “unstoppable retreat.”
The temperature of the Earth’s crust may vary by location, but can vary between 200 ºC and 400 ºC near Moho, according to National Geographic.
The team found that the heat flow from the earth’s crust is essential when thinking about its future.
“Large amounts of geothermal heat can, for example, cause the bottom of the glacier bed to stop freezing completely or a constant film of water to form on the surface,” Gohl added.
Both would result in ice masses slipping more easily on the ground. If, in addition, the braking effect of the ice shelf is lost, as can currently be seen in West Antarctica, the flow of glaciers could accelerate considerably due to the increase in geothermal heat. ” .
The huge basin contains more than six feet of additional potential sea level rise and a significant thaw could cause the Thwaites Glacier to live up to its “Doomsday” name.
The research was published Thursday in the journal Communications Earth & Environment.
THE REMOVAL OF THE THWAITES GLACIER
The Thwaites the glacier is slightly smaller than the total size of the United Kingdom, about the same size as Washington State, and is located in the Amundsen Sea.
It is up to 4,000 meters (13,100 feet thick) and is considered one of the keys to making projections of global sea level rise.
The glacier recedes in the face of global warming and is believed to be unstable because its interior is more than two kilometers (1.2 miles) below sea level while, on the coast, the bottom of the glacier is quite shallow.
The Thwaites Glacier is the size of Florida and is located in the Amundsen Sea. It is up to 4,000 meters thick and is considered one of the keys to making projections of global sea level rise.
The Thwaites Glacier has experienced a significant acceleration of flow since the 1970s.
From 1992 to 2011, the center of the Thwaites land line receded nearly 14 kilometers (nine miles).
Annual ice discharges in this region as a whole have increased by 77% since 1973.
Because its interior connects with the large portion of the West Antarctic ice sheet that lies deep below sea level, the glacier is considered a gateway to most of the potential contribution to the level. of the West Antarctic Sea.
The collapse of the Thwaites Glacier would cause a rise in global sea level of one to two meters (three to six feet), with the potential of more than double that of the entire ice sheet of West Antarctica. .