Greenland’s Freaky Ice Plumes May Be Fueled by Wild, Pasta-Like Churning
Summary
Researchers suggest that the ice sheet may be experiencing thermal convection, likening it to a boiling pot of pasta. This intriguing phenomenon could have significant implications for understanding climate change and ice dynamics.
Key Insights
What exactly are the plume-like structures found in the Greenland ice sheet, and why have they puzzled scientists?
The plume-like structures are large swirling formations deep inside the Greenland ice sheet that have disrupted scientists' understanding of ice dynamics for over a decade. These giant plumes, which can be as large as one-third of the ice sheet's thickness, are visible in radar images and complicate reconstructions of past ice movement. Scientists were puzzled because these structures didn't fit conventional models of how ice sheets behave, as ice was traditionally understood to be a solid material that deforms slowly under pressure rather than exhibiting dynamic churning behavior.
How does thermal convection in ice relate to climate change and sea-level rise predictions?
Understanding thermal convection in the Greenland ice sheet is crucial for improving climate models because it reveals that ice in northern Greenland may be 9-15 times softer than previously assumed. Softer ice changes how the ice sheet moves and deforms, which directly affects predictions of future ice loss and sea-level rise. By accurately accounting for this softer ice rheology in numerical models, researchers can reduce uncertainties in projections of future ice-sheet mass balance and provide more reliable forecasts of how much sea levels will rise as the ice sheet continues to change.