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17 January 2018
Glacial moulin formation triggered by rapid lake drainage
Scientists are uncovering the mystery of how, where and when important glacial features called moulins form on the Greenland Ice Sheet. Moulins, vertical conduits that penetrate through the half-mile-deep ice, efficiently funnel the majority of summer meltwater from the ice surface to the base of the ice sheet.
31 August 2017
Record-low 2016 Antarctic sea ice due to ‘perfect storm’ of tropical, polar conditions
While winter sea ice in the Arctic is declining so dramatically that ships can now navigate those waters without any icebreaker escort, the scene in the Southern Hemisphere is very different. Sea ice area around Antarctica has actually increased slightly in winter — that is, until last year. A new study shows the lack of Antarctic sea ice in 2016 was in part due to a unique one-two punch from atmospheric conditions both in the tropical Pacific Ocean and around the South Pole.
6 June 2017
Study sheds new light on future of key Antarctic glacier
Thwaites Glacier’s ice loss may not progress as quickly as thought By Carol Rasmussen The melt rate of West Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier is an important concern, because this glacier alone is currently responsible for about 1 percent of global sea level rise. A new study finds that Thwaites’ ice loss will continue, but not quite as rapidly as previous studies have estimated. The new study, published in Geophysical Research Letters, …
2 March 2017
Study improves forecasts of summer Arctic sea ice
Each year, as sea ice starts to melt in the spring following its maximum wintertime extent, scientists still struggle to estimate exactly how much ice they expect will disappear through the melt season. Now, a new NASA forecasting model based on satellite measurements is allowing researchers to make better estimates.
24 January 2017
Arctic melt ponds form when meltwater clogs ice pores
When spring comes to the Arctic, the breakup of the cold winter ice sheets starts at the surface with the formation of melt ponds. These pools of melted snow and ice darken the surface of the ice, increasing the amount of solar energy the ice sheet absorbs and accelerating melt. Now, researchers describe in a new study how these melt ponds form, solving a paradoxical mystery of how a pool of water actually sits atop highly porous ice.
8 June 2016
Antarctic lakes provide glimpse of ancient forest fires, modern human impacts
The perpetually ice-covered lakes in Antarctica’s McMurdo Dry Valleys preserve the dissolved remnants of black carbon from thousand-year-old wildfires as well as modern day fossil fuel use, according to a new study.
1 March 2016
History on Ice: New insights from reviewing 60 years of crevasse research
The American Geophysical Union invited Colgan and six team members, including CIRES director Waleed Abdalati, to compile and synthesize decades worth of research on glacier crevasses to highlight overarching key concepts and new research directions. Their review paper has been published online in Reviews of Geophysics, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.
14 January 2016
Study finds high melt rates on Antarctica’s most stable ice shelf
A new study measured a melting rate that is 25 times higher than expected on one part of the Ross Ice Shelf. The study suggests that high, localized melt rates such as this one on Antarctica’s largest and most stable ice shelf are normal and keep Antarctica’s ice sheets in balance.
26 January 2015
Distinctive sounds announce iceberg births
Underwater sounds can be used to detect different ways glaciers lose ice as they flow into the ocean, giving scientists new insight into these poorly understood events, according to new research.
19 November 2014
Fountain of youth underlies Antarctic mountains
Time ravages mountains, as it does people. Sharp features soften, and bodies grow shorter and rounder. But under the right conditions, some mountains refuse to age. In a new study, scientists explain why the ice-covered Gamburtsev Mountains in the middle of Antarctica looks as young as they do.
GeoSpace is a blog on Earth and space science, managed by AGU’s Public Information staff. The blog features posts by AGU writers and guest contributors on all sorts of relevant science topics, but with a focus on new research and geo and space sciences-related stories that are currently in the news.