Getz Glaciers On the Runhttps://phys.org/news/2021-02-getz-glaciers.html
Using a 25-year record of satellite observations over the Getz region in West Antarctica, scientists have discovered that the pace at which glaciers flow towards the ocean is accelerating. This new research, which includes data from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission and ESA's CryoSat mission, will help determine if these glaciers could collapse in the next few decades and how this would affect future global sea-level rise.
Led by scientists at the University of Leeds in the UK, the new research shows that between 1994 and 2018, all 14 glaciers in Getz accelerated, on average, by almost 25%, with three glaciers accelerating by over 44%.
The results, published today in
Nature Communications, also reported that the glaciers lost a total of 315 gigatonnes of ice, adding 0.9 mm to global mean sea level – equivalent to 126 million Olympic swimming pools of water.
... "Using a combination of observations and modeling, we show highly localized patterns of acceleration. For instance, we observe the greatest change in the central region of Getz, with one glacier flowing 391 meters a year faster in 2018 than in 1994. This is a substantial change as it is now flowing at a rate of 669 meters a year, a 59% increase in just two and a half decades," continued Heather.
The research, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council and ESA's Science for Society program, reports how the widely reported thinning and acceleration observed in the neighboring Amundsen Sea glaciers, now extends over 1000 km along the West Antarctic coastline into Getz.
Heather L. Selley et al.
Widespread increase in dynamic imbalance in the Getz region of Antarctica from 1994 to 2018,
Nature Communications (2021).
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-21321-1
