University of South Florida, USA - Faster in the Past: New seafloor images – the highest resolution of any taken off the West Antarctic Ice Sheet – upend understanding of Thwaites Glacier retreat

Title:

Faster in the Past: New seafloor images – the highest resolution of any taken off the West Antarctic Ice Sheet – upend understanding of Thwaites Glacier retreat

 

Author:

Kristen Kusek

 

Published:

University of South Florida, 5 September 2022

https://www.usf.edu/marine-science/news/2022/faster-in-the-past-new-seafloor-images-the-highest-resolution-of-any-taken-off-the-west-antarctic-ice-sheet.aspx

 

From the news article:

The Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica – about the size of Florida – has been an elephant in the room for scientists trying to make global sea level rise predictions. This massive ice stream is already in a phase of fast retreat (a “collapse” when viewed on geological timescales) leading to widespread concern about exactly how much, or how fast, it may give up its ice to the ocean. The potential impact of Thwaites’ retreat is spine-chilling: a total loss of the glacier and surrounding icy basins could raise sea level from three to ten feet.  

 

A new study in Nature Geoscience led by marine geophysicist Alastair Graham at the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science (USF CMS), adds cause for concern.