News: The pattern of fractures in the ice of the Thwaites Glacier, which is the outflow of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, shows how the rest the Antarctic Ice Shelf could collapse in the future.
About Thwaites Glacier
- The Thwaites Glacier is a massive Antarctic ice feature in West Antarctica critical to global sea level dynamics.
- Location: It is located east of Mount Murphy, on the Walgreen Coast of Marie Byrd Land in Antarctica.
- It is commonly known as the ‘Doomsday Glacier’ because of its potential to significantly add to worldwide sea levels.
- Naming: It is named after the late American glaciologist Fredrik T. Thwaites.
- The glacier is flowing into Pine Island Bay which is a part of the Amundsen Sea.
- Size and area:
- Width: It is 120 km wide and is the single widest glacier in the world.
- Thickness: It is also very tall, with ice thickness from bedrock to surface measuring between 800 m and 1,200 m.
- Area: It has an area of 192,000 sq. km.
- It is larger than the American state of Florida and a little smaller than the entire island of Great Britain.
- Significance: It is one of the fastest changing ice-ocean systems on the planet.
- The complete melting of the glacier could add 65 cm to global sea levels.
