German and British researchers have found that warming under the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica in the Amundsen Sea could contribute to further shrinkage of the glaciers.
As explained by the Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven, about four percent of global sea level rise due to climate change can be attributed to the melting of the massive glacier. The high heat flows under the ice are due to the location of the glacier, which is located in a tectonic fault and has a thin earth crust. However, it is unclear to what extent geothermal rise changes the glacier. Explains Karsten Jol, co-author of the study and geophysics at AWI. Higher geothermal energy can cause the underground ice sheet not to freeze properly.
The new results will be verified by further measurements. The project involves researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute, the Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research and the British Antarctic Survey.
This message was broadcast on August 19, 2021 on Deutschlandfunk.
