Antarctica is a vast ice sheet. The continent is larger than the United States of America, and has enough ice to raise global sea levels by ~58 m if it all melted. It is extremely cold, with very little surface melt. However, it is changing rapidly. Parts of West Antarctica are grounded well below sea […]
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These pages cover information on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. This is the part of Antarctica west of the Transantarctic Mountains. It is characterised by a bed that is largely below sea level. The two largest ice streams draining the West Antarctic Ice Sheet are Pine Island Glacier and Thwaites Glacier. Other relevant articles: What
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A new paper with a whole host of authors has just been published in Nature (IMBIE Team, 2018). It provides a new estimate of mass balance of the entire Antarctic Ice Sheet over the last 25 years, the longest and most thorough estimate of this to date. This article argues that the Antarctic Peninsula, the
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This page focuses on introducing the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Antarctica is actually composed of three ice sheets: the Antarctic Peninsula, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, and the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. You may also be interested in reading about the Patagonian Ice Sheet or the British-Irish Ice Sheet. Antarctica StoryMap Series You can learn more
Investigating Pine Island Glacier | Why is Pine Island Glacier important? | Pine Island Glacier ice shelf | Pine Island Glacier: the longer term view | Conclusions | References | Comments | Investigating Pine Island Glacier A fast-flowing ice stream Pine Island Glacier is one of the largest ice streams in Antarctica. It flows, together
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Introduction | Topography | Oceanography | Ice streams and ice shelves | References | Comments | Introduction The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (the WAIS) is capable of rapid change as it is a marine ice sheet and therefore could be unstable. It has the potential to raise global sea level by 3.3 m[1] over a
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