The University of Gothenburg's autonomous submarine, RAN, operated for 27 days, traveling more than 1,000 kilometers under the Duston Ice Sheet, which extends 17 kilometers into the sea. At the end of July, the researchers published their report on the years-long research, during which they also found some surprising things.
Self-leveling ice is a part of the ice flow of land glaciers extending into the sea. Under the influence of tides, larger pieces and icebergs break off from the formation, which is called ice calving, but due to the high temperature of the atmosphere, even the entire self-leveling ice can break off.
The Antarctic ice sheet covers 14 million square kilometres and is an average of 2 kilometres thick. It contains 61 percent of the Earth’s fresh water. The Dodson Ice Shelf is a tongue of ice 50 kilometres wide and 350 metres thick. Three hundred smaller and larger formations like this line three-quarters of Antarctica’s coastline. If the West Antarctic ice shelves, which make up only a small part of the continent, were to collapse, that alone could raise sea levels by 3.4 metres.
This is the main reason why researchers want to look under the ice to get more accurate information about the self-erosion of ice, so they can accurately predict how quickly the ice will melt.
reverse sand dunes
Previously, we were able to observe changes in glaciers based on satellite data and samples obtained from ice cores. By sending a submarine device into the cavity, we were able to create a high-resolution map of the area beneath the ice. It's a bit like being on the far side of the moon.
“There are few unexplored corners of our planet, but our own probe could visit such a place,” said Anna Wolin, professor of oceanography at the University of Gothenburg, who pointed out that there are few unexplored corners of our planet, but their own probe could visit such a place.
Scientists already knew that ice melts faster as ocean currents reach the base of the self-leveling ice, where erosion continues in cracks leading to the surface.
The bottom of the ice was supposed to be smooth, but instead they found sudden, shell-shaped depressions. The depressions can be up to 400 meters long, and their pattern runs in the same direction everywhere. According to the researchers, the reason for the unusually uneven melting is the Coriolis force acting on ocean currents, meaning that the Earth’s rotation bends the flow into a spiral shape.
Melting ice requires a lot of energy, so Antarctic ice acts as a huge temperature stabilizer and is an important part of Earth's climate system. If a large portion of the Antarctic ice sheet were to end up in the oceans, it could affect sea level rise, and if we can determine the possible lower and upper limits of this, we can also know how much sea level will rise in the future.
Professor Wahlen pointed out.
The team prepared the first maps in 2022, and returned in January 2024 to create new maps to note the change compared to the previous ones.
Ran, a seven-meter-long orange cigar-like robot equipped with state-of-the-art sensors, was launched from the South Korean icebreaker research vessel Araon. Since the device operated completely autonomously until its return from its voyage, nothing was heard from it. Each 24-hour mission consisted of several increasingly difficult tasks, at the top of which the robot reached the autonomous ice minimum, where the ice breaks away from the ground.
However, in February of this year, Ran only made one trip back to Dotson, after which she did not show up at the pre-arranged meeting point and time. According to the professor,
Maybe an unexpected event happened,
Which prevented the robot from returning – when its batteries were certain to run out, they had to abandon it.
The Ran had been in use for five years, completing more than 40 missions and was on deck to do so at sea. The researchers said the device’s disappearance was a great loss, but it was reassuring that it was resting at sea instead of gathering dust in a museum warehouse. The Swedish team is now raising money to replace the device, which costs 38 million Swedish kronor.
(IFL Science, Life Science, Sitek Daily)
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