Researchers Found A Way To Monitor Ross Ice Shelf From Afar

Direct study of Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf is difficult because of the extreme conditions at the location. Scientists believe they have found a way for monitoring of changes on the ice shelf from afar. The team has found that the wind blowing across the snow dunes on the Ice Shelf cause the shelf to vibrate.

That vibration produced a near-constant set of seismic tones that could potentially be used to monitor changes in the shelf remotely. The Ross Ice shelf is the largest ice self in Antarctica and is about the size of the state of Texas. The shelf plays an important role in keeping ice from flowing from the Antarctic mainland into the ocean, it's sort of a cork.

The issue with the collapse of ice shelves, especially one as large as the Ross Ice Shelf, is that with the ice shelf gone ice can flow faster from land into the ocean, causing rising sea levels. The collapse of Ice shelves around Antarctica is due to rising ocean and air temperatures around the planet.

The problem with monitoring the collapse of ice shelves is that observations have shown they can collapse suddenly and without warning signs. This abrupt collapse happened with the Larsen B ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula in 2002. To attempt remote monitoring of the Ross Ice Shelf, researchers buried 34 sensitive seismic sensors under the surface of the shelf. The sensors monitored the vibrations of the shelf and studied internal movements from late 2014 to early 2017, a period of two years.

The team found that the pitch of the seismic hum changed when weather conditions altered the snow layer's surface. The ice also vibrated at different frequencies when strong storms changed the arrangement of snow dunes on the surface or when air temps went up or down. The research suggests that the seismic stations could be used to continuously monitor conditions on ice shelves in near-real time. One researcher said, "Basically, what we have on our hands is a tool to monitor the environment, really. And its impact on the ice shelf."

SOURCE: AGU100