Global catastrophe fears as scientists drill into Antarctica ‘Doomsday Glacier’
The team plans to drill 1,000m through the ice at Thwaites’ most vulnerable point, where the warmest ocean water flows under the glacier and melts it from below.
They will also collect sediment and water samples, allowing them to look back in time at what happened to the glacier in the past.
Dr Peter Davis, a physical oceanographer at BAS, said: “This is one of the most important and unstable glaciers on the planet, and we are finally able to see what is happening where it matters most.
“This is an extremely challenging mission. For the first time, we’ll get data back each day from beneath the ice shelf near the grounding line.
“We’ll be watching, in near real time, what warm ocean water is doing to the ice 1,000 metres below the surface. This has only recently become possible — and it’s critical for understanding how fast sea levels could rise.”
The drill pumps 90C water at high pressure through a hose to melt the ice. This creates a roughly 30cm-diameter hole, slicing through up to 1 metre of ice every minute.
Once drilled, the holes refreeze within one or two days, so the drill is used periodically to keep them open.
BAS oceanographer and drilling engineer Keith Makinson said: “We’re world-leaders in this technology — between us, this team has about 75 years’ worth of hot water drilling experience.
Article source: https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/2165476/antarctica-doomsday-glacier-british-survey