RR Phantom
Location : Wasted Space Job/hobbies : Cayman Islands Actuary
| Subject: Antarctic: Grand Canyon-sized rift 'speeding ice melt' Thu Jul 26, 2012 12:54 am | |
| A rift in the Antarctic rock as deep as the Grand Canyon is increasing ice melt from the continent, researchers say.
A UK team found the Ferrigno rift using ice-penetrating radar, and showed it to be about 1.5km (1 mile) deep.
Antarctica is home to a geological rift system where new crust is being formed, meaning the eastern and western halves of the continent are slowly separating.
The team writes in Nature journal that the canyon is bringing more warm sea water to the ice sheet, hastening melt.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18959399#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa |
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