A race against time: A Courageous Mission Under Antarctica's Ice

The Thwaite glacier, which is part of the Western Antarctic ice, has lost about 540 tonnes of ice since 1980. But recent measurements indicate that the melting of the glacier is accelerating.

There are some glaciers in Antarctica that have melted the same as Thwaites, but this is what we are most concerned about,” said David Vaughan, director of science at the British Antarctic Monitor Mission, which has travelled with the team of scientists.

Under difficult conditions where temperatures can reach below -20C, researchers will have only a few days to drill the ice and decide the device.

The goal is to do this process as soon as possible. All of this will happen within three to four days,” said Vaughan.

The expedition to the glacier the size of the Florida state became more dangerous this year, when NASA scientists discovered through the radar a massive hollow at its base. And 13 tonnes of ice melted over the past three years.

At the end of December, scientists on the team launched radared ships over the ice to draw up the thickness of layers near <x0). The map will help them show where they can drill the ice.

No one has been able to drill the ice near the place where he starts swimming, and that's the critical point,” said Vaughan.

The 3.5m long device contains high - definition cameras and instruments for monitoring water flow, salt, oxygen, and temperature. These may determine how much fresh water is flowing from below the ice layers. Robotic equipment will also examine the frozen sediment poured into the water. The data will be introduced into computer models to refine predictions about the fate of the glacier and the size of rising sea level that will produce its melting.

The Thwaites glacier is already responsible for about 4% of global sea level growth, as ice slides from land to sea. But because ice sheets are melting and dilated, glaciers are melting faster. Thwaites themselves contains plenty of ice to raise the global sea level by more than six feet [2 m] (61 cm)).

If the Thwaites glacier melt itself, we'll see a rise in sea level. We're not saying it's going to happen in the next 100 years, but of course it can start in that time period,” said Vaughan.

We will look at the ice flow and see how it is affected, by natural factors, for example, by changes in tide. All of this tells us about the sensitivity of the system to minor unrest, which in the future may be major concerns after it melts the ice. All this has to do with rising sea level. This is about rising sea level. That's why we're here,” he added.

Work on the ground, will last until March 2020. /The Guardian/