Please donate to http://PaulBeckwith.net to support my research and videos as I join the dots on abrupt climate system mayhem.

To do these videos, I need to upgrade my 6 generation old phone ($1500) and (6 year old ) laptop ($1000) so please help out.

Sincerely,
Paul

Thwaites Glacier: Status Update on this so-called “Doomsday Glacier” in Antarctica

Key point:
Daily tides lift up the glacier, warm salty water rushed up to 6 km inland underneath and causes significant melting. At low tide, cooled water is forced back out as glacier settles.

Rinse and repeat each tide. Spring tides are larger, so melt is largest then.

Melt rates in models need to be increased for this tidal cycling effect increasing them.

Links:

Thwaites Glacier
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thwaite...

Scientists looked deep beneath the Doomsday Glacier. What they found spells potential disaster for the planet
https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/20/climat...

Ocean water is rushing miles underneath the ‘Doomsday Glacier’ with potentially dire impacts on sea level rise
https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/20/climat...

Antarctica’s 'doomsday' glacier is heading for catastrophic collapse
https://www.newscientist.com/article/...

Thwaites glacier
The world's most deadly glacier
If the Thwaites glacier collapses due to global warming, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could be submerged causing a domino-like effect and raising sea levels as much as 5 metres
https://www.newscientist.com/definiti...

International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (6 years of effort, 100+ scientists)
https://thwaitesglacier.org/

Peer-reviewed paper:
Widespread seawater intrusions beneath the grounded ice of Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica

Abstract

We present evidence for seawater intrusions occurring at tidal frequencies over many kilometers beneath the grounded ice of Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica, a major contributor to sea level rise. The results call into question the traditional approach of modeling a fixed, abrupt transition from grounded ice to ice floating in the ocean with no ice melt at the transition boundary. We delineate a tidally controlled grounding zone, 2 to 6 km in length, and additionally irregular seawater intrusions extending another 6 km inland at spring tide. The rushing of seawater beneath grounded ice over considerable distances makes the glacier more vulnerable to melting from a warmer ocean than anticipated, which in turn will increase projections of ice mass loss.

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas...

Peer-reviewed paper:
Synchronous retreat of Thwaites and Pine Island glaciers in response to external forcings in the presatellite era

Abstract
Thwaites Glacier plays a vital role in regulating West Antarctic Ice Sheet stability and, thus, global sea-level rise. Marine sediments seaward of the glacier reveal that the grounding zone had retreated to its current position before 9,400 y ago. The floating ice shelf fringing Thwaites Glacier lost contact with seafloor highs in the mid-twentieth century, simultaneously with the ice shelf at neighboring Pine Island Glacier. The synchronous ice retreat of these two major ice streams suggests that, rather than being driven by internal dynamics unique to each glacier, retreat in the Amundsen Sea drainage sector results from external oceanographic and atmospheric drivers, which recent modelling studies show are modulated by climate variability.

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas...

Conference (last week)

1st Circular – 29th International Polar Conference
Dynamic Poles and High Mountain Environments
Rauris (Austria), 16 – 20 September 2024

https://polarforschung.de/app/uploads...

Please donate to http://PaulBeckwith.net to support my research and videos as I join the dots on abrupt climate system mayhem.

To do these videos, I need to upgrade my 6 generation old phone ($1500) and (6 year old ) laptop ($1000) so please help out.

Sincerely,
Paul