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News Scientists Just Snapped The First Ever Picture Of Foundation Of An Antarctic Glacier
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Scientists Just Snapped The First Ever Picture Of Foundation Of An Antarctic Glacier

The Antarctic Thwaites glacier is notoriously infamous for its contribution to the rising sea level. Scientists have managed to get its first ever images.

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By: Priyanka Chakrabarti Published: Feb 05, 2020 08:00 AM IST

Scientists Just Snapped The First Ever Picture Of Foundation Of An Antarctic Glacier

The Antarctic Thwaites glacier is notoriously infamous for its contribution to the rising sea level. It accounts for about four per cent of the global rise. Scientists have been trying to get a closer look for understanding its structure and mechanism. And, they have finally managed to get the first ever images of the glacier. A robotic submarine called Icefin has helped in achieving the feat and the images are expected to help in better monitoring of the ice sheet. By Kumar Shree

The robotic submarine has highlighted a particular area of concern. It can be understood as a boundary at the point where the Antarctic Thwaites glacier either rests on the ocean bed, or breaks away and floats over water. This boundary is vital in studying the stability of the glacier as the more it recedes, it will open way for the ice to flow into the sea, and elevate the sea-level.

Britney Schmidt, a researcher from Georgia Institute of Technology, and a part of the project said, “Visiting the grounding line is one of the reasons work like this is important because we can drive right up to it and actually measure where it is. It’s the first time anyone has done that or has ever seen the grounding zone of a major glacier under the water, and that’s the place where the greatest degree of melting and destabilisation can occur.”

Icefin took round trips of 15 kilometers during two mission. Scientists from around the world are working to derive data and conclusions from the accumulated results. Researchers have also concluded that the amount of ice flowing from the Antarctic Thwaites glacier to the sea has almost doubled in the last 30 years.

Keith Nicholls, an oceanographer from the British Antarctic Survey, said, “We know that warmer ocean waters are eroding many of West Antarctica’s glaciers, but we’re particularly concerned about Thwaites. This new data will provide a new perspective of the processes taking place, so we can predict future change with more certainty.”

We are hoping that the images help scientists in finding ways of tackling the ticking time bomb.

Related: Are You Ready To Cruise To The Antarctica For NYE Like Imtiaz Ali Plans…

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