Antarctica’s glaciers are at risk. Scientists have used Icefin, a submarine robot, to study under a 700-meter deep ice hole in the Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica. The whole moment for recorded by the team of the project that reveals the ground line on the bottom of the glacier.
The Icefin Mission
To comprehend more about the submarine’s robot mission, we need to understand what the grounding line of the glacier means. The ground line of the glacier is the border where the ice touches land and is believed to be the place where the warm water of the ocean could be melting the bottom of the glacier little by little. Therefore, putting the glaciers at risk of collapsing. The submarine’s robot mission is to find the cause of why the glaciers are collapsing.
Thwaites Glacier Findings
The scientists have studied the Thwaite Glaciers in Antarctica for about two months, enduring very extreme temperatures, sometimes reaching even -30 Degrees Celsius. The Icefin studied the bottom of the glacier, where the water was still flowing, achieving as close to one kilometer to the grounding line.
The scientists from the MELT Project are still reviewing the research data. The warm water coming from the ocean is the first and most dangerous threat for the melting glaciers and possibly the real reason for the collapse of the ice on the surface. Researchers have discovered that the melting of Thwaite Glaciers is the cause of the rise in sea level to 6 feet.
Icefin: The Robotic Submarine
Icefin is a torpedo shape-like structure robotic submarine equipped with chemical sensors, portable camera equipment, and other types of tools necessary for studying the situation in Thwaite Glaciers.
The Thwaite Glaciers is not its first mission as the robotic submarine also studied the the wildlife in the sea under the Ross Sea in Antarctica. Icefin can monitor the sea level and can measure a variety of other data such as the sea’s oxygen content, water’s salinity, the manner of water flow and the temperature.
