American geologists from Washington University in St. Louis discovered that the Ross Glacier, the largest ice shelf in Antarctica, moves back and forth by 6-8 centimeters every day. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine Geophysical Research Letters (GRL).
The Ross Glacier is a giant field of floating ice comparable in size to the territory of France.
Scientists have discovered that the mobility of such an ice mass is due to the influence of ice flows moving from the Antarctic continent towards the ocean.
“These sudden movements could potentially play a role in causing ice earthquakes and cracks in the ice shelf,” study author Professor Doug Vince said.
Ice shelves act as brakes on continental glaciers and ice flows, slowing their path to the sea and allowing more ice to accumulate on the continent. If an ice shelf collapses, this support is lost and the ice may melt faster. When they enter the ocean, they contribute to sea level rise.
Researchers do not believe these changes are directly related to human-caused global warming. One theory is that these are caused by water loss in the ice flow bed, making it more sticky.
Previous scientists I learnedMelting glaciers slows down the Earth’s rotation.