FAQs

Asked by Jack Hi Jack, Glaciers are shrinking world-wide, and the rate of recession is generally increasing. It is difficult to relate the behaviour of individual glaciers to climate change, but the general trend of accelerating recession is indicative of a world-wide response to global warming. Glaciers are a ‘natural thermometer’, as their changes are […]

In some parts of the world there are organisms living right on glaciers. Is this true for Antarctica as well and, if so, what organisms are there? Although the Antarctic ice sheets are cold, high and arid, and are a very harsh place to live, they support a surprising variety of microbial life. In fact,

Name: Anders Hedberg Email: hedberg.anders@telia.com Question: I have been wondering about the causes of the global warming slowdown (the so called hiatus). According to one hypotheses it could be explained by lack of measure stations in the Arctic and according to another (M. England and S. Sherwood) it could be explained by absorbation of heat

Hi, thank you for the opportunity to “Ask a scientist”…I am going round and round about the latest publication of the Western Antarctic ice melt by Eric Rignot. I have seen the latest on the NSIDC site and it shows the extent of the Antarctic to be larger than last year and is considered a

Asked by Daniela Hi Daniela, Pine Island Glacier (often known as PIG) is the focus of a huge international research effort, with many hundreds of peer-reviewed journal articles written on it. I’ve summarised them on my own website (Pine Island Glacier) but here are some more web resources: NASA PIG NASA Natural Hazards British Antarctic

Subglacial Lake Vostok is a lake occupying a topographic hollow beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Water occurs at high pressure beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet and accumulates in topographic hollows. This hollow may have formed during pre-glacial or glacial times and is tectonically controlled. So, a lake may or may not have formed here during

What kind of topographic features lie beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheets? Is it mostly similar to what we have in North America, or are there new features we haven’t seen before? Asked by Samuel. Hi Samual, The Antarctic continent is usually divided up into three sectors: East Antarctica, West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula. Each

Asked by Samuel, Hi Samuel, This essentially comes down to preservation potential of landforms. Eskers underneath ice sheets can be quite large features, filled in with sand and gravel. As a result, after ice-sheet recession, they form fairly robust features that can withstand post-glacial processes of wasting and redeposition. One of the most famous eskers

Asked by Samuel Hi Samuel, I forwarded your question to an expert in this topic, Peter Abbott from Swansea University. Here is what he said: Simple answer is that it is related to the rapid acceleration and reorganisation of the thermohaline circulation and the shift in state between stadial and interstadial conditions, which aids the