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• News in English
• 10/09/2022

Thwaites Glacier and the bed beneath

Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica is losing mass and has the potential to cause substantial sea level rise. New seabed imagery indicates that the glacier previously retreated at double its current rate, implying that mass loss could accelerate in the near future.

Thwaites was dubbed the ‘Doomsday Glacier’ by Rolling Stone magazine for good reason — it occupies a deep basin that extends into the heart of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Glacier retreat into this deep basin creates the potential for ‘marine ice sheet instability’, a process that may cause progressive and irreversible ice loss¹. If Thwaites Glacier was to retreat entirely, then it would take much of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet with it, resulting in multi-metre sea level rise.