Pine Island Glacier
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Pine Island Glacier Coordinates: is a broad glacier flowing west-northwest along the south side of the Hudson Mountains into Pine Island Bay, Amundsen Sea. It was mapped by United States Geological Survey (USGS) from surveys and USN air photos, 1960-66, and named by Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) in association with Pine Island Bay.[1] It comprises about 10% of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.[2]
On January, 2008, the British Antarctic Survey (Bas) scientists led by Hugh Corr and David Vaughan, reported (in the journal Nature Geoscience) that 2,200 years ago, a volcano erupted under Antarctica ice sheet (based on airborne survey with radar images). The biggest eruption in the last 10,000 years, the volcanic ash was found deposited on the ice surface under the Hudson Mountains, close to Pine Island Glacier.[3]
Some scientists have proposed that this region around Pine Island Bay may be a "weak underbelly" of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The Pine Island and Thwaites Glaciers are two of Antarctica's largest five. Scientists have found that the flow of these glaciers have accelerated in recent years, and suggested that if they were to melt, global sea levels would rise by 1-2 yards (0.9-1.9 m), destabilizing the entire West Antarctic ice sheet and perhaps sections of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.[4]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ USGS GNIS: Pine Island Glacier
- ^ Expressions of Intent for IPY 2007-2008 Activities, proposal number 895
- ^ BBC NEWS, Ancient Antarctic eruption noted
- ^ With Speed and Violence: Why scientists fear tipping points in climate change, Fred Pearce, Beacon Press Books, 2007, ISBN 978-0-8070-8576-9
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