Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica, known as the Doomsday Glacier for the role its melt could play in global sea level rise, is melting more slowly than previously estimated, new research finds. But the glacier is still in trouble.
An Antarctic glacier nicknamed the"Doomsday Glacier" because of its potential to contribute to catastrophic sea level rise is melting slower than previously estimated.
Thwaites glacier sits over a bowl-like depression of bedrock that slopes upward toward the sea, meaning that much of its ice sits below sea level. For that reason, if the glacier retreats too far back it could collapse rapidly, directly contributing to 1.6 feet of sea level rise over a few centuries, according to a commentaryl by Craig McConnochie accompanying the two new studies.
The researchers found that over a nine-month observation period, the melt rate of the ice at this relatively horizontal section of the glacier was slower than computer models have predicted, at about 6.5 to 16.4 feet of ice loss per year. The reason for this slower-than-expected melt rate was that the underside of the ice was cushioned by a layer of fresh meltwater.
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