Antarctic glaciers on the run

The Antarctic Peninsula is a long and narrow strip of land that stretches for 1,300 kilometers in the Southern Ocean and ice covers most of the terrestrial area of the peninsula. In some places the ice reaches 500 meters thick. A team of scientists from the University of Leeds in the UK and the Utrecht University in the Netherlands analyzed the movements of Antarctic ice for a period of six years, from 2014 to 2021 with the aim of determining the speed of 105 moving glaciers and understanding how much ice has moved in Antarctica.

The glacial flow in the Antarctic Peninsula. Credit: ESA

The researchers analyzed the movements of 105 Antarctic glaciers using satellite data and images. The study examined seasonal changes in glacier speed in this region. The result is that the glaciers that undergo the greatest seasonal variations actually move much faster (by 22%) during the summer months, compared to the winter months.

The data show that the acceleration of glaciers occurs when excess water, due to melting ice, pours into the sea and when ocean temperatures are warmer. The interesting thing about this study is that it shows how sensitive glaciers in Antarctica are to the environment. Scientists have long known that the movements of glaciers i Greenland have a seasonal trend, but it is only now that satellite data have shown similar behavior in Antarctica. Studies of this kind will also help us to better understand how glaciers will behave in relation to global warming and thus the rise in sea levels. 

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