The Thwaites Glacier Front in the fragile West Antarctic Sector is very wide (70 miles wide where it touches the ocean) and, overall, is the size of Florida. Glaciers are the most feared because they are rapidly calving and threatening coastal cities around the world. Bottle corks across West Antarctica hold 10 feet of sea level rise. The collapse of ocean extensions does not contribute to sea level rise because they are already floating. When it collapses, the cork bursts and land ice slides freely into the Weddell and Amundsen Seas, causing sea levels to rise.
All of Thwaites’ stability damage is happening under the ice. Warm seawater upwelling softens and erodes the glacier’s soft white underbelly. Upwelling also lifts the ice, causing warmer water to flow into the ridge and over the grounding line, promoting ice breakup with faster flow, causing more shattering and fragmentation with the threat of breakup. is not anchored to bedrock, water can do it.
The sea in front of the glacier is still fairly cold, around 34-36 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s above freezing, and considering an ice-filled afternoon cocktail, it’s akin to the temperature at which seawater erodes at a glacier. This is exactly what is happening under the huge oceanic extension of Thwaites Glacier. The glacier itself holds back 2 feet of sea level rise.
Geophysicists have been able to map the glacial seafloor front. We have a history, just like you and I. So does Thwaites.
A recent study by the University of South Florida:
At some point in the last 200 years, the glacier front lost contact with the submarine ridge and retreated at a rate of more than 2.1 kilometers per year (1.3 miles per year) in less than six months. Velocities recorded using satellites between 2011 and 2019.
“Our results suggest that a very rapid pulse of retreat occurred at Thwaites Glacier over the past two centuries, possibly in the mid-20th century,” said Graham.
The marine geophysicist said, “Thwaites is now firmly anchored in its claws, and if the glacier retreats over the shallow ridge, we will see large changes over small timescales in the future, from one year to the next.” We should expect to be able to do so,” he said. and study co-author Robert Larter of the British Antarctic Survey.
Thwaites tongue is 50 miles wide. The tongue can be distinguished by its stability and whether it is fixed to the ridge. The western part of the tongue is still relatively stable during this time of danger. increase. My guess is chaos sooner or later.
An important iceberg named Iceberg for 22 years B22a detached from Thwaites’ tongue in 2001 and stuck on its front, protecting the remaining ice from the open ocean. The iceberg was 53 miles long and 40 miles wide.It has also been exposed to warm water, thinning the berg enough to free it from the mount it was attached to September 2022. That means there will be a brutal attack on Thwaites from the sea. Following the icebergs exiting the Amundsen Sea and entering the Weddell River, a swarm of icebergs breaking off ahead is expected. For those of you who don’t know, West Antarctica passed a tipping point many years ago.
