Yet another Antarctic ice mass is becoming destabilized, scientists report - The Washington Post
"Whats particularly notable about the new study is the apparent rapid onset of the change. The researchers say the region is now losing on the order of 56 gigatons of ice per year a gigaton is a billion metric tons and that there appears to have been a remarkable rate of acceleration in dynamic mass loss since about 2009 that must have been near-simultaneous across multiple basins and glaciers.
Indeed, the paper suggests these southern Antarctic peninsula glaciers may have only begun their retreat. The glaciers may now be unstable, says the paper, because some of their ice shelves currently rest on bedrock that is not only below sea level, but slopes further downhill as one moves inland.
To understand the problem here, its important to visualize what scientists call the ice shelfs grounding line the area where the ice mass simultaneously intersects with the bedrock below it and also the ocean in front of it. The geometry of the bedrock its below sea level and it dips inland in this region, explains Bamber. That geometry means that the grounding line is potentially unstable.
It only needs to change position slightly for it to move quite rapidly, and for a sustained period, further inland, Bamber continues. Thats the theory behind the instability of these sectors of West Antarctica and the peninsula.
"Whats particularly notable about the new study is the apparent rapid onset of the change. The researchers say the region is now losing on the order of 56 gigatons of ice per year a gigaton is a billion metric tons and that there appears to have been a remarkable rate of acceleration in dynamic mass loss since about 2009 that must have been near-simultaneous across multiple basins and glaciers.
Indeed, the paper suggests these southern Antarctic peninsula glaciers may have only begun their retreat. The glaciers may now be unstable, says the paper, because some of their ice shelves currently rest on bedrock that is not only below sea level, but slopes further downhill as one moves inland.
To understand the problem here, its important to visualize what scientists call the ice shelfs grounding line the area where the ice mass simultaneously intersects with the bedrock below it and also the ocean in front of it. The geometry of the bedrock its below sea level and it dips inland in this region, explains Bamber. That geometry means that the grounding line is potentially unstable.
It only needs to change position slightly for it to move quite rapidly, and for a sustained period, further inland, Bamber continues. Thats the theory behind the instability of these sectors of West Antarctica and the peninsula.
