New research reveals it for the first time. The level of melting of this Antarctic ice shelf is unexpected. And it is much greater in recent decades. How did you know? Thanks to the work of the underwater robot lost in Antarctica.
Scientists at the University of East Anglia (UEA) say so. Their underwater robot Seaglider accidentally got stuck beneath the Ross Ice Shelf. The findings, once again, confirm an acceleration of the thawing process.
Warm filtration
The robot, called Marlin, was deployed in December 2022 in the Ross Sea from the edge of the sea ice. It carried a series of sensors to collect weather data. But he became caught in a current flowing south. And he was dragged into the cavity of the ice shelf.
It remained there, with its sensors on, for many days before re-emerging. He completed 79 dives, taking measurements of the water inside the cavity to a depth of 200 meters. Right to the base of the overlying ice shelf.
There they learned of the 50-meter-thick “intrusion” of warm water that had entered the cavity from the nearby open sea. When analyzing other measurements, the constant increase in temperature over the last 45 years was confirmed. It could cause an additional ice loss of between 20 and 80 cm per year. Lead author Dr. Peter Sheehan explained this in a statement.
Accelerating thaws
The intrusion waters were warm enough to melt the bottom of the ice shelf. Warm water was traced from the open waters of the Ross Sea at the ice front to the cavity. Never before had one of these intrusions occurred directly.
The underwater robot lost in Antarctica only confirms what science has already warned many times. Melting floating ice does not substantially raise sea levels. But ice shelves slow the flow of land ice toward the sea. Therefore, they stabilize the Antarctic ice sheet. Their thinning and disintegration would accelerate the delivery of land ice to the ocean and accelerate global sea level rise.
