Scientists Drill 1km Into Antarctica’s “Doomsday Glacier”
Antarctica: Scientists are preparing to drill one kilometre deep into Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier, nicknamed the “Doomsday Glacier,” to study the so-called “underwater tsunamis” that could have serious implications for global climate and sea levels.
Thwaites Glacier, a massive ice sheet up to 2,000 metres thick and covering an area nearly the size of the United Kingdom, could cause global sea levels to rise by 65 centimetres if it collapses, researchers warn.
The upcoming mission aims to access one of the most difficult and least-understood sections of the glacier to observe how warm ocean water melts the ice from below.
Dr. Peter Davis, a physical oceanographer at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), described the project as “an extremely challenging mission” on “one of the most important and unstable glaciers on the planet.”
Over the next two weeks, a team from BAS and the Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) will use a hot-water drill to bore through the ice and deploy instruments that will relay real-time data to the researchers above.
The team will study underwater waves, or “tsunamis,” which can range from 10 to hundreds of metres in amplitude. According to BAS oceanographer Dr. Alex Brearley, these waves mix deep water with water near the surface, a process crucial to predicting ice melt rates and future sea-level rise.
Dr. Davis noted that this mission will allow scientists, “for the first time,” to monitor how warm ocean water interacts with ice 1,000 metres below the surface. “This has only recently become possible – and it’s critical for understanding how fast sea levels could rise,” he said.
Previous studies of Thwaites Glacier focused on more stable areas, whereas this research will target the glacier’s main trunk, largely unexplored due to its heavily crevassed terrain.
Dr. Won Sang Lee, principal research scientist at KOPRI, described the operation as “polar science in the extreme,” praising the skill and expertise of the joint BAS-KOPRI team in successfully reaching the glacier and preparing for instrument deployment.
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