A small robot explorer made an incredible journey beneath the icy waters of Antarctica. This unassuming device, called an Argo float, was set adrift by scientists from CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, in 2020. They aimed to gather ocean data near the Totten Glacier. However, the unpredictable Antarctic tides sent the float on an unexpected path, eventually submerging it under the Denman ice shelf.
Initially, researchers feared that they had lost the float forever. Surprisingly, nine months later, it resurfaced, bringing back valuable data from areas that had never been measured before. “We thought the worst,” the scientists said in an essay for The Conversation. This underwater adventure turned out to be a treasure trove of information, shedding light on water temperatures and salinity beneath East Antarctica’s ice shelves.
Ice shelves, massive floating ice platforms, act as protective barriers between Antarctica’s glaciers and the ocean. They slow down melting and help maintain sea levels. Yet, with rising sea temperatures, these ice shelves face increasing threats. Warmer ocean waters accumulate at their bases, gradually weakening them and contributing to higher sea levels.
The Argo float’s accidental dive allowed researchers to gather crucial measurements from the seafloor to the ice shelf base every five days. Over 2.5 years, it collected 195 profiles of temperature and salinity, revealing new insights about the region’s environmental conditions. This data is vital as climate change continues to put pressure on Antarctica’s ice infrastructure.
Delphine Lannuzel, an oceanographer from the University of Tasmania, praised the float’s unexpected journey, calling it “an amazing story of the little float that could.” Despite its challenging environment, the float provided significant insights by using its ice bumping to inform researchers about the depths of the ice above it.
Even though the float’s GPS was disabled during its underwater mission, the scientists cleverly deduced its location based on its contact with the ice. They compared these findings to satellite measurements, confirming that some areas—like the northern Shackleton ice shelf—were not yet exposed to warming waters, while the Denman Glacier was already facing threats.
The findings from this study, detailed in a paper published in Science Advances, emphasize the ongoing vulnerability of ice shelves due to climate change. There’s still much to learn about the environments inside and beneath these massive structures.
With the success of this float, researchers are excited about the potential of deploying more Argo floats in lesser-explored regions. Though many challenges remain and direct measurements through thick ice are still not possible, these floats will enhance our understanding and improve models predicting future sea level rise. Understanding the effects of climate change on these critical ecosystems is essential for protecting our planet’s future.
For further insights into the relationship between climate change and Antarctic ice, check out this authoritative report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
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Antarctica,Global warming,Ice shelf
