Articles tagged with Glaciers
Icequakes in Arctic glaciers may help predict future ice flow and sea level rise. New research finds that the Sabatier process can create life at cooler temperatures than previously thought.
An international team of scientists discovered that fewer landslides occurred after the 2015 Nepal earthquake than initially thought. The research used satellite imaging to analyze the region and found no large floods from overflowing glacial lakes.
Researchers have made direct observations of the Greenland Ice Sheet's reduction and melting over the past 110 years. The study reveals that some areas have lost considerable amounts of ice during the twentieth century, with mass loss along the southeastern and northwestern coast contributing significantly to global sea level rise.
Scientists are mapping glaciers and wetlands in the Cordillera Blanca mountain range with high-altitude drones, collecting data on glacier melt and groundwater storage. The study provides a template for research teams investigating water security in other areas of the world.
Scientists have used subterranean rock samples to help fill a gap in the history of Earth's magnetic field, shedding light on North America's position 400 million years ago. The study provides new insights into Paleomagnetism and its relevance to understanding the continent's geological past.
A new study shows that Greenland's glaciers are retreating twice as fast as in the past 9,500 years, highlighting their acute temperature sensitivity. The sediment cores from a glacier-fed lake provide the first continuous observation of glacier change in southeastern Greenland.
Researchers found evidence of cold climate when Vikings arrived in Greenland, contradicting popular notion that warm weather drew settlers. The study adds to evidence that the Medieval Warm Period was not a global phenomenon.
Researchers found that the region was a frost-covered grassy landscape with erosion rates up to 2.5 higher than today's, suggesting colder temperatures and faster erosion during the last ice age. The study provides new insights into how non-glaciated terrain across North America was formed.
The study uses satellite images to show how glaciers flow and change over a longer time period, revealing complex behavior such as advancing or surging at speeds up to 100 times faster than normal. The animations provide a new look at glacier dynamics and can be used as educational tools to help the public understand glacier movement.
Operation IceBridge collected critical data on Arctic sea ice and Antarctic glaciers, revealing significant glacier losses in the Antarctic Peninsula. The mission also provided essential measurements for calibrating satellite data and validating numerical models of ice sheet gains and losses.
Researchers measure mountain range material flow and find glacial erosion accelerates faster than tectonics can rebuild mountains. Climate fluctuations play a pivotal role in shaping Earth's landforms, with erosion rates outpacing tectonic inputs by up to 80%.
The research provides greater evidence that humans were established in South America more than 15,000 years ago, supporting an earlier peopling of the Americas. The findings also underscore the importance of long-term interdisciplinary research and raise new questions about how the hemisphere was settled.
Adelie penguins' population has seen a 135-fold increase over the last 14,000 years due to retreating glaciers. However, regional variability means some populations are declining despite current favorable environmental conditions.
Research divers have found that sedimentation is impacting an entire ecosystem on the seafloor due to melting glaciers. This has led to a decline in species diversity among benthos, with some species being extremely sensitive to higher sedimentation rates and subsequently dying out.
Zachariæ Isstrøm's acceleration increased by a factor of three in 2012 due to rising air and ocean temperatures. The glacier's floating shelf shrank by 95% between 2002 and 2014, posing significant sea level rise concerns.
A glacier in northeast Greenland is losing mass at a rate of 5 billion tons per year and breaking up into the North Atlantic Ocean. The glacier's rapid retreat is attributed to ocean warming and decades of increasing air temperatures, which are substantially raising global sea levels.
A study by University of Kansas researchers reveals a major Greenland glacier is losing ice rapidly, contributing to increased global sea levels. The Zachariæ Isstrøm glacier holds enough water to trigger a half-meter rise in ocean levels.
A study published in ZooKeys found that smaller stonefly species were more capable of recolonizing Isle Royale Island due to their better flight abilities. In contrast, larger stoneflies struggled to cross the lake despite being well-suited for aquatic environments.
Research led by University of Cincinnati geologist Eva Enkelmann shows a strong relationship between global and local climate change and mountain range tectonic plate shifts. The study found that climate-driven erosion can influence tectonics, changing the motion of rocks in affected areas.
Research found that southwest Greenland Ice Sheet movement decreased by 12% between 2007 and 2014, despite increasing surface melt. The study suggests that further increases in melting may not speed up the ice sheet's flow due to drainage channels established at its base.
A new study has identified a law for glacial erosion that captures variability in different climate zones. The results show that fast glaciers are more effective landscape gougers than slow-moving ones, explaining lower long-term erosion rates in Polar Regions.
Scientists discovered that warmer glaciers in Patagonia erode 100-1,000 times faster than those in Antarctica, shedding sediment into oceans and impacting freshwater access. The study highlights the complex effects of climate change on polar regions.
Scientists discovered that the end of the Snowball Earth period was marked by regular ice advances and retreats, contrary to previous thought. The constant changes were caused by the Earth wobbling on its axis, leading to subtle shifts in climate change.
A new study confirms that rising greenhouse gas levels, not other forces, were responsible for the end of the last Ice Age and subsequent glacial retreat. The study uses recalculated ages of ancient boulders to match the timing of glacial melting with increased carbon dioxide levels.
A new study has found that the rise in carbon dioxide was the primary driver of the global retreat of glaciers during the last Ice Age. The research, which analyzed over 1,000 glacial boulders, eliminates regional factors as the main cause of glacier melting and confirms the leading role of greenhouse gases in shaping Earth's climate.
The study found that nearly 3000 square kilometers of glaciers have been lost since the 1960s, with an average annual ice loss of 5.4 gigatons. By the 2050s, half of Tien Shan's glacier volume is estimated to be depleted due to climate change.
Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin pioneered a new technique to track subglacial discharge in tidewater glaciers. This method is essential for understanding how glaciers are melting and changing due to climate shifts.
The study reveals that glaciers worldwide are melting at an unprecedented rate, losing half a meter to one meter of ice thickness every year. This is two to three times more than the average for the 20th century, with some glaciers in Norway having retreated by several kilometers from their maximum extents.
The Reynolds Creek Fire in Montana began on July 21 after a lightning strike and has consumed mixed conifer trees, shrubs, and grass. As of July 24, the fire is at 4000 acres with predicted extreme fire behavior due to gusty west winds.
Researchers use innovative NanoSIMS ion probe measurements to document concentration gradients in igneous minerals, calculating the timescale between reheating and eruption. The study suggests an eruption triggered within 10 months after a magma reservoir's reheating, predicting potential future eruptions at Yellowstone.
A Dartmouth-led study using a 600-year-old ice core shows that global mercury pollution increased dramatically during the 20th century, but declined faster than previously thought after emissions started to decrease in the late 1970s. The study suggests present-day efforts to cut mercury emissions will reduce pollution more quickly tha...
Researchers have discovered a new insight into glacier behavior, revealing the rapid movement of glaciers backward and downward during calving events. This phenomenon helps scientists measure glacier calving remotely and improve sea-level rise predictions.
Researchers monitored Helheim Glacier for 55 days and detected 10 large-scale calving events, revealing unique quakes registering magnitude five on the Richter Scale. These glacial earthquakes can serve as proxies for glacier edge breaking, offering insights into ice loss from glaciers.
A new study finds that Alaska's glaciers are losing mass exceptionally fast due to surface melting, overshadowing iceberg calving, and making climate-related melting the primary driver of global sea level change. This will have significant implications for future sea level projections and models.
Researchers found minimal variation in weathering rates of silicate rocks between glacial and interglacial periods, contradicting expectations. The study used a geochemical technique to analyze beryllium isotopes in marine sediments, revealing stable runoff and weathering fluxes into the oceans.
A new study reveals that weathering rates over the past 2 million years have remained relatively stable between glacial and interglacial periods. This finding contradicts previous assumptions that weathering rates should slow down during ice ages due to lower temperatures.
Operation IceBridge successfully collected data over sea and land ice regions, releasing two sea ice data products to aid in forecasting Arctic sea ice behavior. The mission also supported various international research collaborations and provided valuable data to inform models predicting summer sea ice melt.
Scientists from Rice University, Ohio State and Nebraska discovered diatoms in glacial ice from tropical regions, offering insights into conditions around the Andes when they were deposited. The study's findings suggest freshwater lakes or wetlands existed at high elevations on or near the mountain in earlier times.
Researchers warn that Himalayan glaciers in the Everest region could experience dramatic change, with sustained ice loss likely through the 21st century. The study suggests that increased temperatures and changes in precipitation patterns will lead to reduced glacier growth and increased melt, impacting water availability and river flows.
Researchers detected a sudden onset of ice loss in Antarctica's Southern Antarctic Peninsula, with glaciers shedding 55 trillion liters of water annually. The region's ice loss shows no signs of waning and is attributed to warming oceans.
Glaciers on the Southern Antarctic Peninsula have been destabilized and are melting at accelerated rates since 2009, contributing significantly to rising sea levels. Warming ocean currents and changes in wind circulation are thought to be the primary causes of this phenomenon.
Researchers employ Surface Extraction for TIN-based Searchspace Minimization (SETSM) software to produce high-resolution digital surface maps for Nepal's relief effort. These maps will aid in mapping infrastructure, rescues, and slope stability assessments.
A team of scientists from UT Knoxville has discovered extensive salty groundwater networks in Antarctica using SkyTEM technology. This finding supports the presence of subsurface microbial ecosystems and provides insights into glacial dynamics and ancient climate change.
Researchers using airborne imaging system SkyTEM detect extensive, interconnected aquifers deep beneath glaciers and lakes in the McMurdo Dry Valleys. The findings provide evidence for previously unknown microbial life and challenge assumptions about liquid water's presence beneath ice sheets.
Researchers have discovered a salty aquifer beneath the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica, which could provide insights into ancient climate change and the potential for microbial life. The discovery was made using a novel sensor system that penetrated below the surface of large areas of terrain.
Researchers at the University of Missouri have challenged a popular theory that North America was first settled by Upper Paleolithic people from Europe via an ice bridge. The team found inconsistencies in the recovery and ownership of the ship that discovered the alleged evidence, as well as discrepancies in photographs and records.
Researchers have calculated the size of Mars' glaciers using radar observations and ice flow modeling. The ice is found in belts around the planet, between latitudes 300-500, and is equivalent to covering the entire surface with 1.1 meters of ice.
Seventy percent of glacier ice in British Columbia and Alberta could disappear by the end of the century, impacting energy production, water supply, and freshwater ecosystems. The Rocky Mountains are expected to lose up to 90% of its glaciers, while coastal mountains will retain only half their volume.
A new international study finds that glacier movement in the Southern Hemisphere is primarily influenced by sea surface temperature and atmospheric carbon dioxide rather than changes in the Earth's orbit. The results contradict the Milankovitch theory of climate, which suggests orbital fluctuations drive ice sheet expansion in the Nort...
A new study suggests that a 40,000-year-old volcanic eruption may not have triggered the final demise of the Neanderthals. Climate modeling indicates that temperatures decreased by 2-4 degrees Celsius in Western Europe after the eruption, which could have impacted day-to-day life for both Neanderthals and early humans.
A recent study reveals that glacial melt in a small region of Alaska produces more than four times the total freshwater discharge of the Yukon River and half again as much as the Mississippi River. The findings provide new insights into marine biology, ocean currents, and sea level changes.
Researchers discovered two seafloor gateways that allow warm ocean water to reach the base of Totten Glacier in East Antarctica. This finding explains the glacier's rapid thinning and raises concerns about sea level rise. The study highlights the importance of understanding the role of oceanic gateways in glacier melting.
Researchers have discovered a valley beneath East Antarctica's most rapidly-changing glacier, accelerating melting and thinning of the Totten Glacier's ice shelf. Climate change is raising global sea levels, with the glacier potentially representing a major component.
Researchers found that underwater noise from melting glaciers exceeds ocean noise levels generated by all other sources. The loud sounds are short-lived, but consistent melting of ice creates a persistent noise generator. Further studies are needed to investigate the relationship between underwater noise levels and the fjord ecosystem.
A University of Arizona-led team reports that Iceland's glaciers are melting at an accelerated rate, causing the island's crust to rise rapidly. The study uses GPS measurements to track geological activity and finds a direct connection between glacier loss and uplift.
Researchers at the University of Leeds have observed a remote Arctic ice cap thinning by over 50 meters and accelerating to speeds of several kilometers per year. The findings suggest that warmer ocean temperatures may be triggering this rapid ice loss, which has significant implications for sea level rise.
Researchers estimate that 50% more organic carbon will be exported in glacier outflow over the next 35 years, equivalent to half of the Mississippi River's annual organic carbon influx. This increase has major implications for high-latitude marine ecosystems, particularly those surrounding ice sheets.
Researchers at Ohio State University have created publicly available elevation maps of the Greenland Ice Sheet using high-resolution satellite images. The software, SETSM, allows for detailed tracking of the ice sheet's changes, including cracks that indicate accelerated melting.
Laboratory experiments by Iowa State University glaciologists found that glacier beds can grow more slippery as the ice slides faster. This effect can improve predictions of future sea-level rise and ice volume loss. The results challenge traditional mathematical models, which had predicted the opposite relationship.
Scientists using NASA data have produced a comprehensive study of the Greenland Ice Sheet's hidden plumbing and melt water flow. The research suggests that current ice sheet modeling is too simplistic to accurately predict future ice loss, and may underestimate contributions to sea level rise.