Basal Melt Responsible For Antarctic Ice Shelf Loss
redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online The majority of Antarctica’s ice loss is caused by warm ocean waters eating away at the undersides of ice shelves, not the sudden release and breaking away of ice masses from glaciers...
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PASADENA, Calif., June 13, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Ocean waters melting the undersides of Antarctic ice shelves are responsible for most of the continent's ice shelf mass loss, a new study by NASA and university researchers has found. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) Scientists have studied the rates of basal melt, or the melting of the ice shelves from underneath, of individual ice shelves, the floating extensions of glaciers that empty into the...
Alaska’s melting glaciers remain one of the largest contributors to the world’s rising sea levels, say two University of Alaska Fairbanks geophysicists. UAF Geophysical Institute researchers Anthony Arendt and Regine Hock joined 14 scientists from 10 countries who combined data from field measurements and satellites to get the most complete global picture to date of glacier mass losses and their contribution to rising sea levels. “Sea level change is a pressing societal...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Climate change impacts on the surface of the Greenland Ice Sheet have been widely studied. An understanding, however, of the key processes in iceberg production has eluded researchers for a long time. A new study, led by the Universite Libre de Bruxelles, presents a sophisticated computer model that provides fresh insight into the impact of climate change on the production of icebergs by Greenland glaciers. The model also demonstrates...
NASA NASA's newest scientific rover is set for testing May 3 through June 8 in the highest part of Greenland. The robot known as GROVER, which stands for both Greenland Rover and Goddard Remotely Operated Vehicle for Exploration and Research, will roam the frigid landscape collecting measurements to help scientists better understand changes in the massive ice sheet. This autonomous, solar-powered robot carries a ground-penetrating radar to study how snow accumulates, adding layer...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Earth's tropical climate history has been revealed in unprecedented detail – year by year, for almost 1,800 years – by two annually dated ice cores drawn from the tropical Peruvian Andes. In 2003, a research team led by Ohio State University retrieved core samples from a Peruvian ice cap. They noticed some startling similarities to ice cores they had gathered from Tibet and the Himalayas. Even though the cores were taken from...
Alan McStravick for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online The oft-cliché idea behind the naming of Iceland and Greenland claims their names were derived in an attempt to fool would be sailing marauders, attracting them to the desolate but more hospitably named Greenland, leaving the citizens of Iceland to live upon their slightly more lush island without threat of invasion. In fact, Erik the Red, it is believed, gave the moniker to attract settlers to the ice covered island just to the...
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution All living organisms rely on iron as an essential nutrient. In the ocean, iron’s abundance or scarcity means all the difference as it fuels the growth of plankton, the base of the ocean’s food web. A new study by biogeochemists and glaciologists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) identifies an unexpectedly large source of iron to the North Atlantic – meltwater from glaciers and ice sheets, which may stimulate plankton growth during...
Tire Consultants Inc. a national accident investigation firm finds that black ice can form in many locations and under varying conditions. Drivers should be wary. (PRWEB) January 30, 2013 Winter Storm Luna pushes into the northeast bringing with it the possibility of black ice and hazardous driving conditions. A combination of snow, sleet, and rain, with subfreezing temperatures will make driving a major challenge for most commuters. Black ice is a thin layer of ice that forms on road...
Alan McStravick for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online The uncertainty of future sea level rise is getting a little clearer thanks to research being conducted by a team comprised of scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), the Alfred Wegner Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) and the University of Tromsø. Their study, entitled ‘Grounding-line retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet from inner Pine Island Bay’, is being published in this month’s edition of...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online The West Antarctica ice sheet is melting faster than expected. An international group of oceanographers led by the University of Gothenburg has published new observations in the journal Nature Geoscience that may improve our ability to predict future changes in ice sheet mass. The water levels of the oceans would be affected globally by a reduction of the ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland, making it problematic that...
Latest Water ice Reference Libraries
White frost is a type of solid ice that forms directly from water vapor found in the air. White frost forms when the humidity is above 90% and the temperature is below 18 degrees Fahrenheit. White frost grows against the wind, since the facing winds have higher humidity than leeward air. The wind must be light or the delicate icy structures become broken. The structures have big, interlocking, needle-like crystals. This phenomenon occurs very rarely. White frost is considered an intermediate...
Soft rime is a type of milky white ice that forms when water droplets in light freezing fog freeze to the outer surfaces of objects. This formation usually occurs with light winds or in calm conditions. The rime forms to the windward (side facing the wind) side of solid objects. Soft rime is similar in appearance to hoar frost, but is formed differently. Soft rime is formed when vapor first condenses to liquid droplets and then attaches to the surface. Hoar frost is formed when water vapor is...
Hard rime is a type of white ice that forms when water droplets found in fog freeze to the outer surfaces of objects. Hard rime is most often found on trees atop mountains and high ridges in winter, when low clouds cause freezing fog. This fog freezes along the windward (sides facing the wind) side of trees, buildings, and any other solid objects. The air temperature needed for hard rime to form is less than 29 degrees Fahrenheit and typically higher than 17 degrees Fahrenheit. High wind is...
Clear Ice refers to a solid precipitation that forms when air temperature is between 32 degrees and 27 degrees Fahrenheit and there is a presence of super-cooled, large drops of water (from freezing fog). A rapid build up and slow dispersing of latent heat of fusion favors conditions for the formation of the transparent ice. A similar phenomenon occurs when freezing rain or drizzle hit's a surface and freezes causing what is known as glaze. When clear ice forms on the ground, it is...
Cirrus clouds are thin wisplike strands, sometimes accompanied by patches. Their shape and arrangement lead to their common name of "mare's tail". These clouds can be so extensive that they are virtually identical to one another and hard to tell apart. Sometimes high altitude convection produces another form of cirrus called cirrocumulus. Many cirrus clouds produce hair-like filaments made of heavy ice crystals that precipitate from them. This precipitation often indicates the difference in...
