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Scientists have discovered a huge cavity under the Thwaites glacier

23.02.2019
The Thwaites Glacier, which is located in Western Antarctica, is known for being one of the largest threats to world ocean level.
Initially, scientists only assumed that there might be no bedrock under the glacier, but recent researches have only confirmed these guesses.

Scientists have discovered a huge cavity under the Thwaites glacier

A group of scientists during of the IceBridge operation, using helicopters with special gear, explored the lower layers of the glacier’s ice and found that under it there was a huge cavity with a large space of melt water. The cavity area turned out to be 40 square kilometers in size, and its height was 300 meters. It is easy to imagine what can turn for the world’s oceans if this glacier continues to melt.

“For years, we suspected that the Tewates Glacier was not attachedto the bedrock beneath. Thanks to a new generation of satellites, we can finally see the details”,
explained Eric Rigno, one of the research leaders

Scientists believe that the cause of melting is the presence of warm currents under the glacier. The problems do not end there: it is still unknown how many cavities like as found can still be under the glacier, because each cavity can lead to the acceleration of the melting of nearby ice arrays.

It should be noted that the cavity found under the Thwaites glacier was formed as a result of the melting of 14 billion tons of ice over the past 3 years.

According to predictions of researchers, the melting of each of the glaciers of this massif, including the Tewayts glacier, will lead to an increase in world ocean level up to 65 centimeters for each individual glacier.