Antarctica Is Covered With More Meltwater Than Thought – National Geographic
Article Synopsis – Scientists have now catalogued the vast network of waterways that cuts across Antarctica’s ice shelves, revealing them to be more extensive than many scientists had thought. Meltwater can pose a threat to ice shelves’ stability, by saddling them with weight and widening their internal crevasses. Large-scale drainage could intensify the threat that meltwater poses, since it lets meltwater move around more effectively. However a second study suggests that these river networks could be keeping at least one ice shelf more stable, by efficiently draining meltwater off the ice shelf’s surface. To read the actual article click here.