Monday, November 13, 2017

Antarctica: New Map Shows Geothermal Heat Below Continent

Antarctica's warm underbelly revealed (BBC News)


This is the best map yet produced of the warmth coming up from the rocks underneath the Antarctic ice sheet.

This "geothermal heat flux" is key data required by scientists in order to model how the White Continent is going to react to climate change.

If the rockbed's temperature is raised, it makes it easier for the ice above to move. And if global warming is already forcing change on the ice sheet, a higher flux could accelerate matters.

The map was made by researchers at the British Antarctic Survey and is published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.