Benjamin Hurwitz News Today

Crevasses play an important role in circulating seawater beneath Antarctic ice shelves, potentially influencing their stability, finds Cornell-led research based on first-of-its-kind exploration by an underwater robot.

Crevasses, as discovered through groundbreaking research led by Cornell, are not just fissures in the ice; they serve a crucial function in the circulation of seawater beneath Antarctic ice shelves.

The Icefin team’s observations revealed more than a century of geological processes beneath the Ross Ice Shelf near where it meets Kamb Ice Stream, and will inform models of sea-level rise.

An abrupt change in scenery was relayed by a high in a narrow, seawater-filled crevasse at the base of Antarctica’s biggest ice shelf, and cameras on the remotely operated Icefin underwater vehicle.