Plants and rocks at the edges of glaciers have been entombed in ice for more than 40,000 years. Modern warming, unmatched in 115,000 years, is now uncovering these landscapes.
glaciers & ice sheets
More Evidence Humans Migrated to the Americas via Coastal Route
A new chronology shows that ice-free areas existed along the British Columbia coast earlier than previously thought.
How Will Melting Glaciers Affect Streamflow?
High-resolution modeling of summertime streamflow in the Pacific Northwest reveals the effects of glacial retreat on streamflow will vary by elevation.
Icebergs Reveal Contours of the Ocean Bottom
Using satellite imagery of grounded icebergs near Greenland, researchers estimate the drafts of these ice masses and therefore water depth, measurements that shed light on future sea level rise.
Watch Tiny Cracks Travel in 3-D
Scientists used a transparent gel and high-speed photography to figure out how cracks form and spread. What they found could help explain earthquakes and fracturing glaciers.
How Monsoons in Africa Drove Glacier Growth in Europe
A new study shows that low-latitude weather can affect distant glaciers.
Penguin Poop Keeps a Record of Antarctic Glaciation
Scientists are digging up Adélie penguin guano to study millennia of Antarctica’s history.
New Method to Measure Ice Cap Thickness
Naturally generated seismic waves bouncing up and down through an ice sheet can be used to determine the thickness of the ice and monitor future changes in ice thickness.
Enormous Impact Crater Spotted in Greenland Under Glacial Ice
Ice-penetrating radar revealed a 31-kilometer impact crater—one of the world’s largest—in northwestern Greenland that might have been formed fewer than 20,000 years ago.
Black Carbon Not the Primary Cause of Historic Glacial Retreat
Ice cores and glacial records reveal that European glaciers retreated before the rise of industrialization in the 1870s, suggesting that soot deposition did not primarily drive the shift.