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WickedsDesire -> Shells record West Antarctic glacier retreat (7/10/2017 9:50:15 AM)
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Shells record West Antarctic glacier retreat
Scientists are getting a much clearer picture of the retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet over thousands of years, and of the forces driving it.
New research indicates that warm waters pulled up from the deep by strong winds sharply undercut glaciers from about 11,000 years ago to 7,500 years ago.
This incursion then stopped until it got under way again in the 1940s.......
...... The findings are important because they inform our understanding about how the ice may respond in the future.
Today, the big glaciers that enter the ocean in a key sector called the Amundsen Sea Embayment are in a rapid withdrawal.
These ice streams, such as Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers, are colossal in scale - and their melting has become a significant contributor to global sea-level rise at around 1mm per decade.
Researchers suspect the West Antarctic Ice Sheet at that time became extremely denuded that means stripped/worn etc).
The big question is whether it could experience a similar withdrawal as the Earth warms as a consequence of rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
"As you know there are some computer models which say a West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapse has potentially already begun," Dr Hillenbrand told BBC News.
More really about the ebb and flow of Mother earth - granted its actually over a relatively short period of time. Mind you Greenland is fucked as is Iceland- why Iceland matters - Boom
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