This Antarctic glacier is rapidly losing mass. An international team is digging into the ice to figure out just how bad it is.
glaciers & ice sheets
Posted inNews
“Glacial Earthquakes” Spotted for the First Time on Thwaites
These seismic events, triggered by icebergs capsizing and ramming into Thwaites, reveal that the glacier has lost some of its floating ice shelf.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
First Field Observations of Ocean Melting a Tidewater Glacier
Using autonomous kayaks, researchers carried out measurements of water properties near the terminus of LeConte Glacier and showed that ice/ocean interactions are more complex than thought.
Posted inNews
The Give and Take of Mercury in Glacial Landscapes
As glacial ice melts, toxic mercury is released into the environment. But a new study shows vegetation may be an effective cleanup crew.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Southern California Climate Change over 100,000 Years
Researchers used a sediment core from a lake in California’s San Bernardino Mountains to track the effect of climate on vegetation, fire, and erosion between about 120,000 and 15,000 years ago.
Posted inScience Updates
Seeing the Greenland Ice Sheet Through Students’ Eyes
A team of students and faculty advisers revisited the site of pioneering geosciences expeditions from the 1920s, looking to introduce young researchers to polar science.
Posted inNews
An Ice Sheet’s Footprint on Ancient Shorelines
Researchers combine observations of ancient shorelines and properties of Earth’s crust to infer the size of the Laurentide Ice Sheet during the last glacial cycle.
Posted inFeatures
Diagnosing Thwaites
The water under a vulnerable Antarctic glacier is warming. Its catastrophic collapse could trigger a dramatic increase in global sea level.
Posted inNews
Amazon Fires Contribute to Andean Glacier Melting
New research finds that black carbon emissions produced by fires in the Amazon cause glaciers in the Andes to absorb more sunlight and melt more.
Posted inNews
Controlled Explosions Pave the Way for Thwaites Glacier Research
Scientists detonate explosives in West Texas to prepare for fieldwork in West Antarctica.