Thwaites Glacier: Difference between revisions

In 2001, an analysis of [[radar interferometry]] data from the Earth Remote Sensing Satellites 1 and 2 by Eric Rignot revealed that the grounding line of Thwaites Glacier had retreated by {{cvt|1.4|km}} between 1992 and 1996, while its strongly negative mass balance meant that the retreat was going to continue.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rignot |first1=Eric |year=2001 |title=Evidence for rapid retreat and mass loss of Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica |journal=Journal of Glaciology |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-glaciology/article/evidence-for-rapid-retreat-and-mass-loss-of-thwaites-glacier-west-antarctica/BF1D2B7CA82360E5647E94D2B3E18773 |volume=47 |issue=157 |language=en |pages=213–222 |doi=10.3189/172756501781832340 |bibcode=2001JGlac..47..213R |s2cid=128683798 }}</ref> Further analysis of this data suggested that each {{convert|0.1|C-change|F-change}} increase in [[ocean temperature]] would accelerate annual bottom-up melting by {{cvt|1|m}}.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rignot |first1=Eric |last2=Jacobs |first2=Stanley S. |date=14 June 2002 |title=Rapid Bottom Melting Widespread near Antarctic Ice Sheet Grounding Lines |journal=Science |volume=296 |issue=5575 |language=en |pages=2020–2023 |doi=10.1126/science.1070942 |pmid=12065835 |bibcode=2002Sci...296.2020R |s2cid=749743 |url=https://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/1nj6x4t1 }}</ref> In 2002, a team of scientists from [[Chile]] and [[NASA]] on board a [[P-3 Orion]] from the Chilean Navy collected the first radar sounding and [[laser altimetry]] survey of the glacier, confirming the acceleration in thinning and retreat, and concluding that local seabed [[topography]] provides no obstacles to rapid retreat.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rignot |first1=Eric |last2=Thomas |first2=Robert H. |last3=Kanagaratnam |first3=Pannir |last4=Casassa |first4=Gino |last5=Frederick |first5=Earl |last6=Gogineni |first6=Sivaprasad |last7=Krabill |first7=William |last8=Rivera |first8=Andrès |last9=Russell |first9=Robert |last10=Sontag |first10=John |year=2004 |title=New boundary conditions for the West Antarctic Ice Sheet: Subglacial topography of the Thwaites and Smith glacier catchments |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/annals-of-glaciology/article/improved-estimation-of-the-mass-balance-of-glaciers-draining-into-the-amundsen-sea-sector-of-west-antarctica-from-the-cecsnasa-2002-campaign/CF0F3612575B1D1E59A2C2F9F8BAC181 |journal=Annals of Glaciology |volume=39 |pages=231–237 |language=en |doi=10.3189/172756404781813916 |s2cid=129780210 }}</ref> These discoveries prompted an extensive airborne campaign in 2004-2005 by the [[University of Texas at Austin]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Holt |first1=John W. |last2=Blankenship |first2=Donald D. |last3=Morse |first3=David L. |last4=Young |first4=Duncan A. |last5=Peters |first5=Matthew E. |last6=Kempf |first6=Scott D. |last7=Richter |first7=Thomas G. |last8=Vaughan |first8=David G. |last9=Corr |first9=Hugh F. J. |date=3 May 2006 |title=New boundary conditions for the West Antarctic Ice Sheet: Subglacial topography of the Thwaites and Smith glacier catchments |journal=Geophysical Research Letters |volume=33 |issue=9 |language=en |doi=10.1029/2005GL02556 |doi-broken-date=2023-07-252005GL025561 }}</ref> followed by NASA's IceBridge Campaign in 2009–2018. Geophysical data collected from IceBridge campaign flights showed that the most vulnerable parts of Thwaites Glacier sit {{cvt|1.5|mi|km}} below the sea level.<ref name="NASAUnderbelly" />