scientist are about to set off on the biggest field campaign – in terms of issue of ships , aeroplane , and researchers – everlaunched to study Antarctica .
They will manoeuver out to Thwaites Glacier , which is consider one of themost dangerous glacier in the worldwhen it comes to succeeding upgrade in sea level . As one of the light points of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet with the f number at which it has been pull away increase , a joint inquiry project between the UK ’s Natural Environmental Research Council and the US ’s National Science Foundation ( NSF ) will look for to well read the mental process that are contribute to its fall .
Thwaites Glacier is locate on the Pacific side of Antarctica , meaning that it is obtain affectionate water from the tropics . As a marine - terminate glacier , this is having a pregnant essence as it is melt the meth from below and accelerate up the flow of the glacier into the sea .
How this is likely to touch sea degree rise is one thing that the scientists want to understand . It is thought that Thwaites Glacier alone has already increase global ocean level by 4 per centum .
But the glacier is even more of an curiosity than it might at first seem . From the point at which the glacier move from land to ocean , the ground actually squelch back towards the heart of the Antarctic continent . This is more than just a curiosity , however , as it could have some serious deduction for the future stability of the massive glacier .
Where a glacier fulfil the sea , it forms an chalk weather sheet before calve off . As the piddle underneath warms up due to clime alteration , this ice tack hideaway until it hits what is sleep together as the grounding line . It is think that when this occurs at Thwaites Glacier , the sea will basically pour down the slope underneath the mass of ice . This would clearly have a important impact on the stability of the entire glacier , threatening major ocean level rise .
“ satellite show the Thwaites region is change speedily , but to answer the fundamental questions of how much , and how quickly ocean level will vary in the future requires scientist on the ground with sophisticated equipment collecting the data point we need to measure rate of ice - volume , or chalk - sight change,”explainedDr William Easterling , help director for the NSF ’s Geosciences Directorate .
“ The challenges of conducting fieldwork of this setting and scale in such outback locating are enormous . ”
They will employ all the tools and technical school available , from Italian sandwich to planes , and evenattaching sensors to the heads of dotty sealsso that they will immortalise data as they swim under the Methedrine . Costing an approximate £ 20 million ( $ 13.7 million ) , it will be the big joint speculation between the US and UK on the southerly continent in more than 70 years .
