Thwaites Glacier

Thwaites Glacier (coord|75|30|S|106|45|W|type:glacier) is a broad glacier flowing into the Amundsen Sea about 30 miles (50 km) east of Mount Murphy, Marie Byrd Land. Though imperfectly delineated, the glacier has tremendous flow and in January 1966 had formed a large floating glacier tongue that is 40 miles (64 km) long and an extensive grounded iceberg tongue that is 70 miles (112 km) long. Together, these features extend into Amundsen Sea more than 100 miles (160 km) and inhibit wast-west navigation by ships.

Thwaites Glacier was mapped by United States Geological Survey (USGS) from surveys and U.S. Navy air photos, 1959-66.

The Thwaites Glacier Tongue (coord|75|0|S|106|50|W|type:glacier) is about 20 miles (32 km) wide and 40 miles (64 km) long, and enters the sea about 30 miles (48 km) east of Mount Murphy. It was delineated from aerial photographs taken by USN Operation Highjump in January 1947, and named by Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) for Fredrik T. Thwaites, glacial geologist, geomorphologist and professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The Thwaites Iceberg Tongue (coord|74|0|S|108|30|W|type:glacier) is a very large and rather compact iceberg tongue which is aground and lies in the Amundsen Sea, about 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Bear Peninsula. The feature is about 70 miles (112 km) long and 20 miles (32 km) wide and in January 1966 its south end was only 3 miles (5 km) north of Thwaites Glacier Tongue, whence it had broken off. It was delineated by United States Geological Survey (USGS) from aerial photographs taken by USN Operation Highjump, 1946-47, and USN Operation Deepfreeze, 1959-66.

Some scientists have proposed that the area around Pine Island Bay, which this glacier and the Pine Island Glacier flow into, may be "weak underbelly" of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The Pine Island and Thwaites Glaciers are two of Antarctica's largest five. Scientists have found that the flow of these glaciers have accelerated in recent years, and suggested that if they were to melt, global sea levels would rise by 1-2 yards (0.9-1.9 m), destabilizing the entire West Antarctic ice sheet and perhaps sections of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. ["With Speed and Violence: Why scientists fear tipping points in climate change", Fred Pearce, Beacon Press Books, 2007, ISBN 978-0-8070-8576-9]

References

ee also

* List of glaciers