News
Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf nearing collapse as cracks spread, not because of melting
Cavity Camp on Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf, December 2020. Cavity Camp was named for its central location above the ocean cavity below the ice. Read More
Celebrate Antarctica Day with our Festival!
Antarctica Week Festival 2024! Get ready for a special focus on Antarctica from December 2nd-6th with our ITGC team. Read More
UK meeting brings the Thwaites community together
Over 100 researchers and support staff working on the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC) from across the US and UK, together with other international partners, met at British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge in September 2024 to discuss their observations and results so far. Read More
Open Space activity builds community at ITGC meeting
Blog Post
“IDEA” stands for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility. These are grand aspirations! Throughout the last 6 years of the ITGC programme, the ITGC IDEA Council has been working to embed a culture of IDEA in all ITGC activities. This is of course much easier said than done. To make progress, we have created opportunities (both time and space) for sharing ideas and gathering thoughts from all team members. Read More
A new view of how the ocean melts Antarctica's ice shelves
An international research team deployed the uncrewed submersible 'Ran' underneath 350 m thick ice. They got back the first detailed maps covering extensive of the underside of a glacier, revealing clues to future sea level rise. Read More
Warm seawater speeding up melting of Thwaites Glacier
Satellite data provides first evidence of ocean water intrusion between the remote Thwaites Glacier. Read More
New insights into the bed beneath remote Antarctic glacier
Scientists have discovered a landscape of rocky hills and smooth plains beneath the remote Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica. A team of researchers used seismic imaging to map the area where the ice sits on the bed, giving new insights into the future of this enormous glacier and how it may respond to environmental change. Results are presented at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) meeting in Vienna this week. Read More
Final ITGC field season wraps up
The final field season of the ambitious, international effort to understand Antarctica’s giant Thwaites Glacier is complete. Teams of scientists and support staff with the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC) have spent the past couple of months working on the Thwaites Glacier to advance our knowledge of how it interacts with the ocean and climate, and improve the predictions of its future contributions to sea level rise. Read More
Early Career Scientists hone their communications skills
Held October 9, 2023, the ITGC ECR Science Communication Workshop was a half-day meeting geared at bringing together students and postdocs across ITGC to practice effective science communication with the public. Read More
Final mission for the underwater robot ‘Ran’ under Thwaites Glacier
Ran, the seven metre-long, bright orange, autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) and a highly valued component of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC), has gone missing in action in West Antarctica. The AUV has contributed key data to ITGC, including the first data from under Thwaites ice shelf1 and high resolution maps that show where Thwaites Glacier was grounded in the past2. Read More
New field season studying Thwaites Glacier is underway
December 2023: Thirty-seven scientists and over 24 support staff are on their way to Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica. They are part of the ambitious international effort to understand the glacier and surrounding ocean system to determine its future contributions to global sea-level rise. This season represents the final large scale field season of the collaboration. Read More
Antarctica Week Festival 2023
Antarctica Live Lessons, a new and exciting educational platform, launches as the feature of the annual ITGC Antarctica Week Festival . Aimed at engaging and inspiring the imaginations of young learners, the platform introduces an array of live, interactive lessons about Antarctica, offering a unique opportunity for students to hear from leading ice experts. Antarctica Live Lessons marks a milestone in making science education more engaging and accessible. Read More
Announcing coastal sea level rise meeting in Houston, TX, April 2024
Hosted at the University of Houston, with support from the University of Texas at Austin, University of Houston, and the Science Coordination Office of ITGC, join colleagues at the From Ice Sheets to the Coast: Sea-Level Rise Impacts meeting April 10-12, 2024. This meeting will bring together glaciologists, coastal scientists and community planners to discuss the impacts of Thwaites Glacier on the Gulf Coast of Texas. Read More
Rocks beneath Antarctic Ice Sheet reveal surprising past
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is shrinking, with many glaciers across the region retreating and melting at an alarming rate. However, this was not always the case according to new research published April 28, 2023, in the journal The Cryosphere. A team of scientists from ITGC discovered that the ice sheet near Thwaites Glacier was thinner in the last few thousand years than it is today. This unexpected find shows that glaciers in the region were able to regrow following earlier shrinkage. Read More
Yixi Zheng receives IACS Early Career Scientist Award
Congratulations to Yixi Zheng, recipient of the International Association of Cryospheric Sciences (IACS) Early Career Scientist Prize! Yixi, from the University of East Anglia, UK, and a researcher with ITGC's TARSAN project, received the award for her paper: Read More
Dr Peter Davis and Dr Britney Schmidt named on the TIME100 list for research on Thwaites Glacier
Scientists Dr Peter Davis (British Antarctic Survey) and Dr Britney Schmidt (Cornell University) have been named in the 2023 TIME100 annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world by TIME Magazine. They were recognized for their contributions to climate science, following the publication of results from an unprecedented expedition to measure melting under the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica. Read More
Remembering Professor David Vaughan
It is with deep sorrow we report the death of Professor David Vaughan who was the UK lead on the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC). He was suffering from cancer and passed away peacefully at home in the UK on Thursday 9 February 2023. David retired as British Antarctic Survey (BAS) Director of Science in July 2021 and remained working as the UK lead in the Science Coordination Office (SCO) for the ITGC. Read More
New results provide close-up view of melting underneath Thwaites Glacier
The rapid retreat of Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica appears to be driven by different processes under its floating ice shelf than researchers previously understood. Novel observations from where the ice enters the ocean show that while melting beneath much of the ice shelf is weaker than expected, melting in cracks and crevasses is much faster. Despite the suppressed melting the glacier is still retreating, and these findings provide an important step forward in understanding the glacier’s contribution to future sea-level rise. Read More
Runaway West Antarctic ice retreat can be slowed by climate-driven changes in ocean temperature
An international team of researchers has combined satellite imagery and climate and ocean records to obtain the most detailed understanding yet of how the West Antarctic Ice Sheet – which contains enough ice to raise global sea level by 3.3 metres – is responding to climate change. The researchers, several of whom are part of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration, found that the pace and extent of ice destabilisation along West Antarctica’s coast varies according to differences in regional climate. Read More
Research season begins for the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration
Nearly 60 scientists and support staff are on their way to Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica as part of the ambitious international effort to understand the glacier and surrounding ocean system to determine its future contributions to global sea-level rise. This season represents the fourth of five planned field seasons for the research. Read More
Learn about Antarctic science with our 2022 Festival!
We are excited to announce the 2022 Antarctica Week Festival will be held the week of November 28. We will have four opportunities to hear from researchers from ITGC projects such as TIME, GHC and MELT so be ready to ask your questions about what it's like to work in Antarctica and why it's important to conduct research on our poles and particularly on Thwaites Glacier. Please register at the links below and submit any questions you have as you register or at the time of the talk! Be sure to join us! Read More
Thwaites Glacier takes the spotlight on BBC’s blockbuster series Frozen Planet II
How the mighty Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica could contribute to global sea-level rise will form part of the final episode of the BBC Natural History Unit’s blockbuster series Frozen Planet II. Read More
Seafloor images explain Thwaites Glacier retreat
New high resolution images of the seafloor in West Antarctica show past retreat of Thwaites Glacier. They reveal that at times in its past, retreat of the massive Thwaites Glacier was even quicker than it is today, heightening concerns for its future. The results were published Monday 5 September in the journal Nature Geoscience. Read More
ITGC community gathers in Colorado to discuss latest science and fieldwork
Over 100 members of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration met in Boulder, Colorado in June 2022. Teams from across the UK, US and Korea, re-connected at the University of Colorado, both in person and online, for the first time since before the pandemic for a week-long meeting. Read More
Thwaites and Pine Island Glaciers are losing ice faster than at any time in the past 5000 years
Two crucial glaciers in West Antarctica may be losing ice faster than they have over the last 5,000 years, according to a new study published June 2022. Read More
Thwaites Glacier is under assault from below and losing its grip
SCOITGC's Ted Scambos describes the program's research on Thwaites Glacier in an article written for The Conversation. Read More
TIME field teams retrieve seismic, GPS, and radar data from Thwaites' eastern shear margin
Blog Post
There was a whole lot of digging during this Antarctic summer season (2021-22) at the Eastern Shear Margin (ESM) of Thwaites Glacier by ten intrepid International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC) scientists and mountaineers. Two Thwaites Interdisciplinary Margin Evolution (TIME) field teams - one deployed through the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and one deployed through the U.S. Read More
Celebrating International Women’s Day on 8 March 2022
Blog Post
International Women’s Day is celebrated every year on 8 March. This year’s theme is #BreaktheBias Read More
In the field at last! TARSAN collects data at Thwaites Glacier
Blog Post
The TARSAN ice team swung into action quickly after arriving at WAIS Divide camp (Figure 1 above). WAIS Divide, located on the highest part of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, was first opened in 2006 in support of a major ice coring effort to gather a record of past Antarctic and global climate data reaching back nearly 70,000 years. Since then, the camp has served as a logistical hub in support of additional work on the borehole, and for other science in the region. WAIS Divide camp is the gateway for the on-ice research on Thwaites Glacier conducted by ITGC scientists across our field seasons. Read More
An update on the mission to Antarctica’s remote Thwaites Glacier
In early January 2022, a ship-based team disembarked to the Thwaites Glacier region equipped with a fleet of underwater robots. A team of 32 international scientists set sail on the U.S. National Science Foundation icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer from Punta Arenas, Chile, with the aim of investigating present and past conditions close to and underneath the Thwaites ice shelf and surrounding areas, including the nearby Dotson Glacier. Read More
TARSAN team reaches McMurdo Station
Blog Post
After two months traveling, quarantine, training, packing, and just plain waiting at McMurdo Station, the TARSAN on-ice team is finally now on its way today to the U.S. National Science Foundation's (NSF) major logistical hub, WAIS Divide Camp. Today is January 3rd, 2022. (Photo above: McMurdo Station, Antarctica, from Hut Point. In the foreground is Scott’s first hut, from his 1902-1903 expedition. On the right side is Observation Hill.) Read More
Mission begins to Antarctica’s remote Thwaites Glacier
On the 100th anniversary of the polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton’s death, a research mission using a fleet of underwater robots to determine the impact of Thwaites Glacier on global sea-level rise, departs from Punta Arenas, Chile (6 January 2021). A team of 32 international scientists will set sail on the U.S. National Science Foundation icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer bound for the remote glacier in West Antarctica. Read More
Thwaites science discussed at AGU press conference
ITGC scientists addressed reporters on Monday, December 13, 2021, at the American Geophysical Union meeting, describing the rapid retreat of Thwaites Glacier and the implications that will have on our planet in the coming years. Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier is retreating rapidly as a warming ocean slowly erases its ice from below, leading to faster flow, more fracturing, and a threat of collapse, according to an international team of scientists. Read More
Celebrate Antarctica Day with our Festival!
Calling all teachers, educators and students of all ages! Learn about the amazing place of Antarctica and Thwaites Glacier through activities online beginning 1 December 2021. Ask your burning questions about Antarctica to our researchers, learn about our science and what it's like to work and live on the icy continent through video content, and build a model of Thwaites Glacier to see the glacier and ice shelf dynamics in action. Read More
Thwaites Glacier takes centre stage at pre-COP event in London
This Antarctic field season, the UK’s new polar ship RRS Sir David Attenborough, will support the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration by delivering cargo to the English Coast in Antarctica. With this scheduled, researchers showcased the work of ITGC when the icebreaker visited Greenwich, London, last month (28-30 October) for a special event to support the UK’s Presidency of COP26. Read More
New film highlights Thwaites Glacier and sea-level rise for COP26
News from the ITGCAs world leaders come together next month for the 26th UN Climate Change Talks of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, UK, sea-level rise will be on the agenda for countries with low-lying areas looking at how to manage rising seas. Read More
Antarctic glacier may be more stable than initially feared
DOMINOS, News from the ITGCStudy published in Science sheds light on the future of the massive Thwaites Glacier and other ice sheets. Read More
Exploring Antarctica's Upside Down World
Writer Douglas Fox accompanied ITGC researchers into the field in 2019/2020, where he witnessed TARSAN scientists Erin Pettit, Ted Scambos, MELT scientist Britney Schmidt, and others drill into the Thwaites Glacier ice shelf to learn about the shelf's properties and its thickness. What surprised the team the most was the vast amount of life under the shelf. Read More
The ‘Cliff Notes’ on ice-cliff failure
Blog Post
The retreat of large glaciers that drain the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets could expose immense ice-cliffs at newly-bared calving faces, which are the exposed ends of glaciers where, in these cases, glacier ice meets the ocean. Past a certain height, these ice cliffs will become susceptible to collapsing from high stresses, a process known as structural ice-cliff failure. Read more in this blog post that describes recent research published in Nature Communications. Read More
New modeling of Antarctic Ice Sheet shows rapid and unstoppable sea-level rise if Paris Agreement not met
From the ITGCNew research on the Antarctic Ice Sheet describes that sea-level could rise 17-24 cm if the Paris Agreement goals are not met. If the world exceeds three degrees Celsius of global warming, there will be rapid and unstoppable sea-level rise by 2100 and if the rate of global warming continues on its current trajectory, a tipping point will be reached by 2060, past which these consequences would be “irreversible on multi-century timescales.” Read More
Underwater robot reveals how warm water is melting Thwaites Glacier
For the first time, researchers have collected data from underneath the remote Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica using an underwater robot. Findings reveal that the supply of warm water to the glacier is larger than previously thought, triggering concerns of faster melting and accelerating ice flow. The findings are published this week (10 April 2021) in the journal Science Advances. Read More
Celebrating International Women's Day
On International Women’s Day, 8 March 2021, we mark and celebrate the women working as part of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC). Read More
Satellite reveals surprising ebb and flow of subglacial lakes under Thwaites Glacier
Hidden from view by ice kilometres thick, there is a vast network of lakes and streams under the Antarctic ice sheet. Using a decade of altimetry data from European Space Agency’s (ESA) CryoSat satellite, researchers at the University of Edinburgh, including a scientist with the PROPHET project of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC), have made an unexpected discovery about how lakes beneath Thwaites Glacier drain and recharge in quick succession. Read More
Learn about life in Antarctica from the Antarctica Week Festival 2020
Calling all schools and home-schoolers! We are delighted to bring you the Antarctica Week Festival 2020 where you can hear what it's like to live and work in Antarctica. Read More
Deep channels link ocean to Antarctic glacier
From the ITGCNewly discovered deep seabed channels beneath Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica may be the pathway for warm ocean water to melt the underside of the ice. Read More
Plans for International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration in response to COVID-19
From the ITGCThe International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC) announces news on the forthcoming field season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The substantial programme of ice-based science planned by ITGC in central West Antarctica for 2020/21 has been postponed, as announced by the logistics organizations that support the fieldwork. Read More
New Sights in the Second Field Season of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration
From the ITGCThe sheer scale of the glacier captivated Ted Scambos as he looked on from his plane window, thousands of feet above the ice. The widest glacier in the world, the frozen white Antarctic landscape of Thwaites seemed to stretch on forever—an area as large as Florida, and a mile or more thick. Read More
Diagnosing Thwaites
From Eos MagazineThe American Geophysical Union featured our Thwaites research on the cover of its March 2020 Eos magazine. Read more about the recent field season. Read More
THOR research onboard the N.B. Palmer icebreaker through March 2020
Blog Post
The Thwaites Glacier Offshore Research (THOR) team set sail from Punta Arenas, Chile, on January 26, 2020 and is conducting research in the Amundsen Sea off the coast of Thwaites Glacier. During their 60-day cruise on the US icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer, the team is collecting sediment samples on the ocean floor beneath them, water samples, ocean temperature measurements, and mapping the seafloor to better understand changes to the area over recent and geologic time. Read More
Antarctica melting: Climate change and the journey to the 'doomsday glacier'
From BBC NewsBBC News Chief Environment correspondent, Justin Rowlatt, visited Thwaites Glacier with scientists from the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration during the 2019-2020 field season. He reports on recent research on the glacier and some of the discoveries. Read More
Scientists drill for first time on remote Antarctic Glacier
From the ITGCPress Release: For Immediate Release Tuesday 28 January 2020 6am GMT Teams from the US and UK have successfully completed scientific fieldwork in one of the most remote and hostile areas of West Antarctica – coinciding with the 200th anniversary of the discovery of the continent. This research will help scientists determine whether Thwaites Glacier may collapse in the next few decades and affect future global sea-level rise. Read More
Undergraduate students contribute to Thwaites Glacier research
From the ITGCSeven undergraduate engineering students at the University of Colorado Boulder spent a year working as part of the Thwaites-Amundsen Regional Survey and Network (TARSAN) project team for the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC). The TARSAN project team is studying how atmospheric and oceanic processes are influencing the behavior of Thwaites Glacier and nearby Dotson Ice Shelf. Read More
New study provides first evidence that thinning Antarctic ice shelves instantaneously result in more ice into the sea
From the ITGCResearchers have produced the first physics-based quantifiable evidence that thinning ice shelves all around Antarctica result in an instantaneous response sending more ice flowing from the land into the ocean. Their findings have been published in Geophysical Research Letters. Read More
Scientists Are Racing to Figure Out Why This Giant Glacier in Antarctica Is Melting So Fast
From Live ScienceLive Science reports on recent research at Thwaites Glacier. The glacier could be "a keystone to triggering ice loss from neighboring portions of West Antarctica," said Paul Cutler, program director of glaciology, ice core science and geomorphology at the National Science Foundation. "The question is, how much sea level rise, and how fast?" Read More
US PolarTREC teacher blogs about upcoming research cruise with THOR project, January 2020
Blog Post
Join teacher Sarah Slack as she writes about her experience as an NSF PolarTREC teacher on board the Nathaniel B. Palmer research vessel. The Palmer departs Punta Arenas, Chile, on January 26, 2020, bound for the Amundsen Sea waters off the coast of the Thwaites Glacier. Read More
GHC update from the field 29 Dec 2019
Blog Post
The GHC team in the Hudson Mountains seem to have all the luck with weather and logistics this year. The team, consisted of two scientists, Professor John Woodward, a glaciologist and geophysicist from Northumbria University and Dr Jo Johnson, a geologist from the British Antarctic Survey, supported by two Field Guides, Ash Fusiarski and Tom King. Read More
Submarine to explore why Antarctic ice is melting so quickly
From The GuardianFrom the Guardian: An international team of scientists has reached the Thwaites glacier in Antarctica and is preparing to drill through more than half a kilometre of ice into the dark waters beneath. The 600-metre deep borehole will allow researchers to lower down a torpedo-shaped robotic submarine that will explore the underside of the ice shelf to better understand why it is melting so fast. Read More
TIME update from the field 26 Dec 2019
Blog Post
Greetings from WAIS Divide. Jake Walter here, co-I on the TIME project, which is part of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC). I am the State Seismologist at the Oklahoma Geological Survey and they have loaned me out to the project to lead the field team this season. Read More
'The closest thing on Earth to interplanetary travel'
From BBC NewsFinding out how fast Antarctic ice is melting is critical to understanding the scale of the climate crisis. The BBC's chief environmental correspondent, Justin Rowlatt, is therefore joining scientists as they check the health of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. But first he has to undergo some checks himself. Read More
MELT Team at WAIS Divide with Icefin robotic underwater vehicle
Blog Post
Scientists from the MELT project are in Antarctica this field season. The team aims to use autonomous sensors, vehicles (including Icefin), radar, and moorings to monitor the Thwaites ice shelf and grounding line. The team keeps a blog about the Icefin autonomous underwater vehicle: a small, long-range, deep-water, under-ice, robotic oceanographer. Read More
Scientists embark on ambitious mission to Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier
From the ITGCPress release from the ITGC November 13, 2019: For immediate release Read More
Recent update from the ITGC
Blog Post
It has been a busy autumn (for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere) for the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC). And it is about to get much, much busier. Meetings have been held, bags have been packed, travel has begun, and preparations are well underway for the upcoming field season, which commences this month in Antarctica. Read More
Antarctica Week - connecting schools and researchers
From the ITGCThe International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration is pairing school classrooms with Antarctic experts to talk about research in Antarctica and what it is like to work in one of the coldest places on Earth! For more information about this event, visit our Antarctica Week 2019 page. US Teachers: the deadline for the 2019 event has passed and the event is full. Read More
Thwaites Glacier: Antarctica’s wild card
From the ITGCNearly 100 scientists and staff from around the world, including University of Colorado Boulder (CU) and CIRES scientist Ted Scambos, departed last month to conduct fieldwork in one of the most remote and inhospitable areas on Earth: Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica. Their aim? Read More
Q & A with Tasha Snow
From the ITGCGlaciologist Tasha Snow spent 55 days at sea learning about Thwaites Glacier. Hear what she says upon returning to dry land in the National Snow and Ice Data Center Highlight. Read More
Briefing UK policymakers about Thwaites Glacier
Sea-level rise from Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica was the subject of a special briefing to the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Polar Regions in the Palace of Westminster, hosted by MP James Gray, on Wednesday 12 June. Around 50 parliamentarians and policy makers involved in polar affairs attended the afternoon briefing by Principal Investigators of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC), which is funded by NERC and the US National Science Foundation. Read More
These high-tech seals are charting future sea level rise
High-tech seals gather data to help predict the future of Thwaites Glacier, by Carolyn Beeler of Public Radio International: The World. Read More
On a journey to Antarctica, a New Orleans chef awakens to the threat of melting ice
A two-month stint as a research-vessel cook was Jack Gilmore's first trip outside of the United States, by Carolyn Beeler of Public Radio International: The World. Read More
Journey to Antarctica: What We Learned in the Ice
Jeff Goodell looks back on his two-month voyage to Thwaites Glacier in Rolling Stone magazine. Read More
Snow on Ice: Sea pigs and mud #10
Blog Post
“We found a sea pig last night in one of the Megacore tubes,” Jennie Mowatt, a marine technician onboard, nonchalantly said as she passed around a video on her cell phone for all of the scientists in the meeting. With my late-night schedule, I had literally just thrown myself down from my top rack (bunk on the ship), gotten dressed and walked a couple rooms down to join our daily 0830 science planning meeting, eyes barely starting to open and adjust to the light. Read More
Antarctica Dispatch 9: Thoughts on climate change and returning home
Researchers aboard the Nathaniel B. Palmer look forward to returning home, by Carolyn Beeler of Public Radio International: The World. Read More
Journey to Antarctica: Is This What a Climate Catastrophe Looks Like in Real Time?
The Thwaites Glacier is changing rapidly, by Jeff Goodell of Rolling Stone magazine. Read More
Snow on Ice: Synergizing Science #9
Blog Post
The crane lowered the little orange submarine until it finally touched down snuggly onto its ramp on the back deck of the Palmer. Behind it, the overcast, foggy skies blended into the glacier front a few kilometers away and down to the rest of the ocean surrounding us. As soon as the Hugin rested in its aluminum cradle, Anna Wåhlin, eyes bright and a devious smile beaming across her face, gave a giant high five to Aleksandra Mazur. Read More
Antarctica dispatch 8: Behold grease, shuga and pancake ice
From PRI's The WorldCarolyn Beeler of PRI's The World reports: The research team aboard the Nathaniel B. Palmer is starting to wrap up their work studying Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica. As the Amundsen Sea starts to freeze up, the captain of the ship will be constantly on the lookout for gaps in the ice that will carry the ship home. Read More
Journey to Antarctica: The Dark Art of Coring
From Rolling StoneRetrieving good mud from the bottom of the ocean is just the beginning of telling a story about Antarctica, by Jeff Goodell of Rolling Stone magazine. Read More
Snow on Ice: When in Antarctica: the backup to the backup #8
Blog Post
“I think the secret to the work we do in many ways is as much as possible beforehand, asking the question, ‘what if, what if, what if.…’” Andy Smith, a principal investigator on the ITGC GHOST project, commented about working in Antarctica’s isolated and difficult outback. “You have to get used to the fact that you can have a wonderful plan on paper, and it’ll change completely when you’re actually trying to achieve it.” Looking back on our cruise, this mantra has unquestionably held true. Read More
Journey to Antarctica: Icy Subterranean Homesick Blues
From Rolling StoneCrew and researchers on the Nathaniel B. Palmer compete in a ping pong tournament in the Amundsen Sea, by Jeff Goodell from Rolling Stone magazine. Read More
These women are changing the landscape of Antarctic research
From National GeographicThese women are changing the landscape of Antarctic research. Polar science used to be dominated by men. An expedition to Thwaites Glacier is helping change that. Elizabeth Rush reports in National Geographic. Read More
Antarctica Dispatch 7: Under Thwaites Glacier
From PRI's The WorldThe World's Carolyn Beeler reports on her latest dispatch from a research trip to Antarctica. Climate change researchers aboard the icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer sent a robotic submarine for the first look ever at the seafloor under the massive Thwaites Glacier. Read More
Snow on Ice: Geology with a Spoon #7
Blog Post
While the seal team sat on one of the smaller Shaeffer Islands tagging their second and third seals (described in a previous blog post), GHC scientists, Scott Braddock and Meghan Spoth from the University of Maine, dug through ancient beaches for the Geological History Constraints (GHC) project of the International Thwaites Glacier Col Read More
Journey to Antarctica: Mapping Thwaites
From Rolling StoneJeff Goodell of Rolling Stone magazine reports on why mapping the sea floor in front of Thwaites glacier is so important. Read More
Journey to Antarctica: Face-to-Face With the Doomsday Glacier
From Rolling StoneJeff Goodell of Rolling Stone magazine reports from the ITGC research cruise: “For me, it’s hard to envisage something so big, so permanent, so vast, to be as fragile as it is,” scientist says in regards to first contact with Thwaites glacier. Read More
Antarctica Dispatch 6: First sight of Thwaites — mapping uncharted seafloor
From PRI's The WorldCarolyn Beeler of PRI's The World reports that the Research Vessel Nathaniel B. Palmer arrived at Thwaites Glacier on Feb. 26, roughly a month after leaving Punta Arenas, Chile. During its first day in front of the glacier, the Palmer traced a roughly 100-mile path around the edge of Thwaites mapping portions of the sea floor that were previously uncharted. Read More
Snow on Ice: Seals help scientists explore Thwaites Glacier #6
Blog Post
Calling it seal tagging doesn’t really put the right image in your mind. I had pictured a seal with a small plastic tag attached to its body like you’d see on a cow or pig ear. Seeing it in person was a surprise. Imagine a 600 lb (300 kg) Weddell seal with big dark eyes, a small radio glued to the top of its head, and a black antenna poking up like a single antler. Read More
Antarctica Dispatch 5: Detour, with scenery
From PRI's The WorldA medical emergency aboard the Nathaniel B. Palmer sends the ship and reporter Carolyn Beeler back north just as they’re about to reach the Thwaites Glacier. Read More
Journey to Antarctica: Reckoning With Uncertainty
From Rolling StoneA conversation with chief scientist Rob Larter onboard the US icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer about the existential guessing game at the bottom of the world, as Jeff Goodell of Rolling Stone magazine reports. Read More
Antarctica Dispatch 4: Fieldwork begins, cue the seals
From PRI's The WorldHow quickly will Antarctica’s massive Thwaites Glacier melt, and what will that mean for global sea levels and coastal cities? Researchers are sailing toward Thwaites this month on the first leg of a five-year, international effort to try to answer that pressing question, and along the way they’re enlisting local seals as research assistants. Reporting by Carolyn Beeler of PRI's The World. Read More
Journey to Antarctica: An Emergency at Sea
From Rolling StoneA medical crisis onboard the Nathaniel B. Palmer results in a detour to Rothera Station on the Antarctic Peninsula. Safety of all personnel is paramount on Antarctic missions, as Jeff Goodell of Rolling Stone magazine reports. Read More
Snow on Ice: Ice above, warm water below #5
Blog Post
As we travel among the Thwaites menagerie of giant icebergs, it’s hard to believe that a thousand feet below the ship sits warm water. This ocean layer, moving slowly toward the base of the ice deep beneath the floating ice shelves has led to faster ice flow, thinning, and more frequent giant calving events at some of the Antarctic outlet glaciers. Read More
Antarctica Dispatch 3: The ship's first encounters with icebergs
From PRI's The WorldCarolyn Beeler of PRI's The World radio broadcast reports on the first icebergs seen from the US icebreaker R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer sailing in Antarctica. Read More
Snow on Ice: Into the Ice #4
Blog Post
“Iceberg! Starboard beam.” I was sitting at my computer typing and I think it took a second to sink in for me and everyone else in the room. Read More
Journey to Antarctica: How Scientists Are Using Seals to Measure the Warming Ocean
From Rolling StoneRolling Stone's Jeff Goodell is onboard the US Research Vessel Nathaniel B. Palmer. About 50 seals are collecting essential data on water temperatures deep beneath the ice to help scientists understand how ocean temperatures and currents impact ice shelves. Read More
Antarctica Dispatch 2: Crossing the Drake Passage
From PRI's The WorldCarolyn Beeler of PRI's The World radio broadcast describes crossing the Drake Passage onboard the US icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer. Read More
Journey to Antarctica: How I Survived Drake Passage
ITGC In the NewsRolling Stone's Jeff Goodell is onboard the US Research Vessel Nathaniel B. Palmer. His fourth dispatch describes crossing the renowned Drake Passage.
From Rolling Stone
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Journey to Antarctica: How Does One Navigate the Wildest Waves in the Southern Ocean?
ITGC In the NewsWriting from the US Research Vessel Nathaniel B. Palmer, Rolling Stone's Jeff Goodell confronts the raw power of the sea through the Drake Passage.
From Rolling Stone
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Journey to Antarctica: How We’ll See Deep Beneath the Ice
From Rolling StoneFrom the US icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer, Jeff Goodell of Rolling Stone writes about research using an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, or AUV, called the HUGIN, to study ocean conditions offshore of the Thwaites Glacier. Read More
Antarctica Dispatch 1: Gearing up and shipping out
From PRI's The WorldCarolyn Beeler of PRI's The World radio broadcast is onboard the US research vessel Nathaniel B. Palmer. Her first dispatch comes from the port of Punta Arenas, Chile, on the Strait of Magellan. Read More
Snow on Ice: The little orange submarine #3
Blog Post
The ship bobbed lazily in the Straits of Magellan, ringed by the snow-capped mountains of the far southern Andes, the sun becoming quite warm, the water still as glass. You can imagine what song was stuck in my head as we stood on the 01 Deck looking out at the stern of the ship where the HUGIN Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) sat waiting to be deployed. Read More
Snow on Ice: Setting Sail #2
Blog Post
We arrived into Punta Arenas on January 26th and met our US Antarctic Program (USAP) representative, Maribel. During our short time in Punta Arenas, we received our polar gear for the trip, participated in mandatory training sessions, and boarded the N. B. Palmer the next evening. We were underway soon thereafter, a day earlier than expected, to go to the refueling pier on the other side of town. Read More
Journey to Antarctica: Jeff Goodell Begins His Trip to Thwaites Glacier
From Rolling StoneJeff Goodell of the Rolling Stone is onboard the R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer, which is exploring Antarctica to investigate the nightmare scenario of melting ice that could spell disaster for a warming planet. His first dispatch covers the beginning of the 53-day research expedition by sea. Read More
Snow on Ice: Headed south #1
Blog Post
Join Tasha Snow as she reports life on the N.B. Palmer on a research voyage to Amundsen Sea. Read More
Seals to act as sentinels of remote Antarctic glacier
A team of over 20 polar scientists from the UK, US and Sweden set sail this week (29 January) on the first ship-based research expedition to Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica as part of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. This cruise is part of a five-year project to understand the contribution that the glacier will make to global sea level. Read More
Laying the Groundwork for Some Major Antarctic Field Campaigns
From the Earth Institute at Columbia UniversityA British Antarctic Survey team is completing final preparations to fly 10 flights, collecting 40 hours and over 9000 kilometers of air survey mapping flights to support the large Antarctic International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC) project. Read More
THOR blog - Cruise offshore of Thwaites Glacier
Blog Post
Seven researchers from the Thwaites Offshore Research team embark on a 53-day cruise in the Amundsen Sea to study the ocean off of the Thwaites Glacier. Read about THOR's Cruise News. Read More
Airlift and overland traverse stage fuel, science gear in West Antarctica
Beginning in late November of 2018, a huge effort started to place fuel and materiel at key locations in West Antarctica and on Thwaites Glacier, in preparation for the main ITGC field science effort set to begin less than a year from now. Exploratory field work and landings at the key research sites have established preliminary field camps and surveyed the ice there. Read More
Essential cargo delivered for science on Thwaites Glacier
From BASThe British Antractic Survey’s vessel RRS Ernest Shackleton teamed up with the Royal Navy survey ship HMS Protector to help scientists begin a five-year mission to understand how West Antarctica is contributing to global sea-level rise. Working together the ships crunched their way through over 300 miles of sea ice to a remote Antarctic ice shelf to support a team of around 100 scientists who seek to understand a glacier the size of Great Britain. Read More
TIME blog 2018-2019
Blog Post
Thwaites Interdisciplinary Margin Evolution (TIME) is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Environment Research Council (NERC) to study the Eastern Shear Margin of Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica. The project is trying to better understand the response of the glacier to changes in climate and the contributions to sea level rise of this collapsing glacier. Read More
Ambitious UK-US Antarctic research mission begins
A team of UK and U.S. polar scientists are about to embark on one of the largest joint Antarctic missions for more than 70 years.
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Antarctica Day 2018
NewsRegistration for Antarctica Day is now closed, and the team is working on pairing schools with experts. We will contact the participating schools with more information the week of 19 November. Read More
Instrument Highlight: Phase-sensitive radar (ApRES), Filchner Ice Shelf
Blog Post
Research teams use phase-sensitive radars for determining ice shelf basal melt rates. Data is used to enhance climate models. The ApRES instruments yield time series of ice shelf thickness change at precisions of ~1 mm. Measurements taken over a 10-day period will generate information about derived melt rate of a few cm per annum or better. The is used improve the performance of ocean models. Read More
UK and US join forces to understand how quickly a massive Antarctic glacier could collapse
A joint UK-US research programme launched today (Monday 30 April) is one of the most detailed and extensive examinations of a massive Antarctic glacier ever undertaken. The collapse of the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica could significantly affect global sea levels. It already drains an area roughly the size of Britain or the US state of Florida, accounting for around four per cent of global sea-level rise —an amount that has doubled since the mid-1990s.
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