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Researchers raise concerns over underwater Totten Glacier melt
WARM seawater sloshing around the base of one of Antarctica’s largest glaciers could cause sea levels to rise faster than anticipated, according to a scientific report published today (Mar 18).
Australian Antarctic Division researchers, in collaboration with UK and US researchers, have been flying over the Totten Glacier using a DC 3 aircraft to monitor conduits that could be allowing seawater to penetrate underneath the glacier to accelerate melting.
The research, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, reveals a 5km-wide subglacial trough that forms a gateway, and another tunnel, extending from beneath the Totten Glacier to the coastline.
The report follows on from findings from a marine science voyage to the glacier earlier this year that detected the glacial melt water, but was unable able to establish how deep the warm sea water was reaching under the glacier.
AAD glaciologist Jason Roberts said the airborne geophysical survey work had uncovered the deep trenches that could allow warm water to penetrate all of the way to the base of the Totten Glacier.
“The Totten Glacier is the most rapidly thinning glacier in East Antarctica and this melt has the potential to drive substantial regional ice loss,” Dr Roberts said.
“The study identifies direct pathways for warm ocean water to reach under the glacier; a likely reason for the observed thinning.”