What our missing ocean float revealed about Antarctica's melting glaciers
2 days ago
- #Sea-level rise
- #Oceanography
- #Antarctica
- An Argo ocean float initially deployed near Totten Glacier in Antarctica drifted away but later provided valuable data near Denman and Shackleton ice shelves.
- The float spent nine months beneath the ice shelves, collecting temperature and salinity data from previously unmeasured regions.
- Argo floats are robotic instruments that drift, rise, and fall in the ocean, collecting crucial data on temperature and salinity.
- Measurements under ice shelves are vital for understanding Antarctica's contribution to sea-level rise.
- The Denman Glacier is vulnerable to warm water melting its ice shelf, while the Shackleton ice shelf is currently less at risk.
- Both Denman and Totten glaciers hold ice equivalent to five meters of global sea-level rise.
- Unstable retreat of these glaciers could lead to irreversible melting and significant sea-level rise over centuries.
- Future research requires an array of floats around Antarctica to better predict ice shelf reactions and sea-level rise.