An ancient divide in the rocks beneath East and West Antarctica is controlling the flow of water
under the Ross Ice Shelf (pictured, stock image) and the rates at which parts of the ice melt
Posted on 05/30/2019 9:30:41 AM PDT by ETL
The structure is an old tectonic boundary, probably formed during the birth of the Antarctic continent or shortly thereafter.
According to new research published May 27 [2019] in the journal Nature Geoscience, this boundary protects the ice shelf's grounding line, the point at which it is thick enough to extend all the way to the sea floor.
The geology created by the boundary keeps warm, melt-promoting ocean water away from that part of the shelf. But the ocean circulation driven by that same geology drives intense summer melt along the shelf's easterly edge.
"We could see that the geological boundary was making the seafloor on the East Antarctic side much deeper than the West, and that affects the way the ocean water circulates under the ice shelf," study leader Kirsty Tinto,... said in a statement. ..."
The newly discovered tectonic boundary bisecting the Ross ice shelf matters because it helps shape the seafloor beneath the ice.
To the east, the seafloor is deeper, at 2,198 feet (670 meters), on average. To the west, the average depth is 1,837 feet (560 m), on average. ..."
So what does it all mean for a warming Antarctic?
In the near future, the ice shelf's grounding line (the point at which it contacts the seafloor) should remain stable, at least in the face of moderate climate change, the researchers wrote.
But variations in local climate will have a big impact on how fast the front edge of the ice shelf melts.
These variations could include reductions in sea ice declines or cloud cover decreases, Laurie Padman, a senior scientist at Earth and Space Research in Oregon and study co-author, said in the statement.
"We found out that it's these local processes we need to understand to make sound predictions," Tinto said.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
An ancient divide in the rocks beneath East and West Antarctica is controlling the flow of water under the Ross Ice Shelf and the rates at which parts of the ice melt.
The boundary was discovered using a new, plane-mounted detector which can gather magnetic and gravitational data on the ice shelf as it flies around.
In addition, the researchers also discovered that a patch of open waters in the Ross Sea that cools the ocean in the winter can also lead to significant warming and local ice melt in the summertime.
Together, the findings highlight the importance of local ocean currents in the future retreat of the Antarctic ice shelf.
Is this Trump’s fault somehow?
*ping*
“Messing with the ice”.
—
A scientific term, no doubt.
Getting funky with it.
[[Ancient rocky structure found beneath Antarctica.]]
But yet no Appollo Creed Structure? That’s Racist!
Local? not GLOW-BALL?..............
Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn.
which movie is that??
It’s one of the Thor ones. I think maybe Ragnorak?
Hmmmm. They were indicating something about large masses and I went straight to the head gore-on his own self.
I didn’t read the article, which communities will be hardest hit?
Here dinosaurs that should be long extinct live and roam, as do a curious race of humanoid savages that appear to exhibit all the various phases of Man's evolutionary development. To survive long enough to repair and replenish the U-boat, wartime enemies must put aside their differences and cooperate with one another. But not everyone is playing from the Kumbaya songbook...
http://www.eccentric-cinema.com/cult_movies/land_time_forgot.htm
If ifs and ands were pots and pans there’d be no work for tinkers’ ...
Wouldn’t in arguably take years of research to conclude how a newly discovered geological feature affects politically correct global warming?
I don’t see this as being supportive to the man-made global warming hoax. I see it as pointing out yet another NATURAL mechanism that could potentially melt ice in the region, and perhaps elsewhere.
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