The Doomsday Glacier, or Thwaits to give its official name is a large ice mass in western Antarctica. The unusually vast glacier travels at 1.2 miles a year as it flows into the Amundsen Sea. However, this pace is accelerating some 50 miles inland. This phenomenon is increasing its potential to raise sea levels.
Doomsday Glacier, Weak Underbelly of Antarctica
Climatologists call Thwaits Glacier part of the ‘weak underbelly’ of the West Antarctic ice sheet. This is because of its apparent vulnerability to significant retreat, based on theoretical studies and direct observations.
As early as 1973, researchers questioned whether it was at high risk of collapse. Nearly a decade later, they found that warm ocean currents could melt the glacier from beneath. This is because the glacier rests on a seabed, rather than on dry land. And this can cause it to destabilize from beneath.
The floating ice shelf is currently bracing and restraining the eastern portion of the ice sheet. However, scientists say it is likely to collapse within a decade from 2021. This will lead to increased outflow, and contribute to sea-level rise according to Wikipedia.
The leader of International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration is Ted Scambos, a geologist at University of Colorado Boulder. In late 2021 he messaged from McMurdo Antarctic Research Station ‘Things are evolving really rapidly here. It’s daunting’.
Doomsday Glacier is Holding on By Its Fingernails
Alastair Graham is a marine geophysicist at University of South Florida. He was lead in a study in Nature Science of September 5, 2021. Their research found the Doomsday Glacier is eroding along its underwater base and has a ‘high risk of collapse’. This could raise sea levels by several feet if it happens.
‘Thwaits is really holding on today by its fingernails,’ says Robert Larter, marine geophysicist and one of the study’s co-authors from British Antarctic Survey. ‘And we should expect to see big changes over small timescales in the future. Even from one year to the next. Once the glacier retreats beyond a shallow ridge in its bed.’
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