So much water pulsed through a melting glacier that it warped the Earth’s crust – The Washington Post

Article Synopsis – NASA scientists detected a pulse of melting ice and water traveling through a major glacier in Greenland that was so big that it warped the solid Earth — a surge equivalent in mass to 18,000 Empire State Buildings. The deep interior of Greenland is full of melt, and it’s trying to get rid of that melt through gravitational processes. Such a “wave” has never before been detected in a Greenland or Antarctic glacier. The total amount of mass carried in the wave — in the form of either water, ice or some combination of both — was 6.68 billion tons over four months. The study raises questions about whether more huge ice and water pulses will be seen as the Arctic continues to warm and Greenland to melt — and thus whether this is how a melting ice sheet exports its mass to the ocean. To read the actual article click here.

By Sharon Gray May 26, 2017 Newsletter