Major expedition targets Thwaites Glacier

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47030057

Major expedition targets Thwaites Glacier

By Jonathan Amos
BBC Science Correspondent

29 January 2019

The US icebreaker Nathaniel B Palmer leaves Punta Arenas in Chile on Tuesday to begin an expedition to Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier.
The huge ice stream in West Antarctica is currently melting, and scientists want to understand its likely future contribution to sea-level rise.

If all of Thwaites' frozen bulk were to give way, it would add 80cm to the height of the world's oceans. "How much, how fast? That's our mantra," said Dr Robert Larter. "These are the questions we're asking about Thwaites," the British Antarctic Survey scientist told BBC News before leaving Chile.
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The Palmer's 52-day cruise is just one part of a five-year, joint US-UK research programme to investigate the glacier. Data is to be gathered in front of, and on top of the ice stream. Instruments will even be sent under its floating front, or shelf. It's hoped that by capturing Thwaites' every behaviour, computer modellers can then better predict how its mass will respond to a warming world.
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One of the studies to be conducted off the Palmer is a seal-tagging exercise. Marine mammals will be captured on islands near the glacier and fitted with sensors. When seals are released to dive in the vicinity of Thwaites, they'll report back on seawater conditions.
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