Scientists Get a Close-Up Look Beneath a Troubling Ice Shelf in Antarctica.
The star of the show was the underwater robot, called Icefin, which was designed, built and operated by Dr.
Schmidt and her team.
A cylinder 9 inches in diameter and about a dozen feet long, it carries cameras, sonar and other instruments, as well as thrusters for propulsion.
Dr.
Schmidt slowly “drove” the device via a long tether that carried signals from the surface.
“Getting to see the ice for the first time was really powerful,” Dr.
Schmidt said.
“There were some really intense experiences.”
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Among them was driving the robot toward the grounding line, where the water column between the ice and bedrock narrowed to barely more than the diameter of Icefin itself.
Squeezing into that space “ was pretty remarkable and very exciting,” she said.
“And it was also terrifying.”
Icefin explored crevasses and steep-sided terraces on the underside of the ice, and found rapid melting there, as the near-vertical orientation of the sidewalls allowed mixing and brought more heat to bear on the ice.
Foreign [Music] Scientists get a close-up look beneath a Troubling ice shelf in Antarctica the Star of the show was the underwater Robot called ice fan which was designed Built and operated by Dr Schmidt and her Team a cylinder 9 inches in diameter and About a dozen feet long it carries Cameras sonar and other instruments as Well as thrusters for propulsion Dr Schmidt slowly drove the device via a Long tether that carried signals from The surface getting to see the ice for The first time was really powerful Dr Schmidt said there were some really Intense experiences to stay up to date With latest top stories make sure to Subscribe to this YouTube channel by Clicking the button above this video Among them was driving the robot toward The grounding line where the water Column between the ice and Bedrock Narrowed to barely more than the Diameter of icefin itself squeezing into That space was pretty remarkable and Very exciting she said and it was also Terrifying ice Finn explored crevices And steep-sided Terraces on the Underside of the ice and found rapid Melting there as the near vertical Orientation of the sidewalls allowed Mixing and brought more heat to bear on The ice at times icefin allowed the
Researchers to measure what was Occurring within just a few inches of The ice seeing those ice faces and their Orientation up close was perplexing she Said and trying to figure that out has Been a big part of the story like Dr Davis Dr Schmidt said that the findings Provided important context for what is Happening at the thwaits glacier it's Not warm water equals x amount of Melting she said its warm water plus Process X means melting Foreign [Music]
