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Thin sandwich-like layers of clear and debris-laden ice can be seen in this image, the first of its kind obtained from deep within an Antarctic ice stream on the West Antarctic ice sheet. The image, captured by the side-looking camera of an ice probe designed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., was taken down a borehole 1,200 meters (over 3,900 feet) deep, during the Antarctic Ice Borehole Probe Project. Though the process is not fully understood, scientists think that, upstream, ice and gravel have frozen onto the base of the ice sheet. With the ice streams in constant motion, water may slide under debris- laden layers, lifting them up, allowing the process to repeat. Further research on these ice layers could provide significant information about the processes occurring upstream and help researchers understand how ice streams flow and stop flowing. The West Antarctic ice sheet, along with the rest of the Antarctic ice sheet, holds a potential treasure trove of information related to the geological history of this frozen continent and the mechanisms by which ice travels from the ice sheet to the sea. Studies show that significant changes in glacier melting and flow rates could have a considerable impact on global sea levels. The Antarctic Ice Borehole Project is a collaborative effort of JPL and the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, supported by NASA and the National Science Foundation, Arlington, Va. The three-month glaciological investigation, from October 2000 to January 2001, took place at Stream C, an area in the West Antarctic ice sheet where 150 years ago the ice suddenly stopped flowing in one area in the middle of the stream. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL
Description
Thin sandwich-like layers of clear and debris-laden ice can be seen in this image, the first of its kind obtained from deep within an Antarctic ice stream on the West Antarctic ice sheet. The image, captured by the side-looking camera of an ice probe designed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., was taken down a borehole 1,200 meters (over 3,900 feet) deep, during the Antarctic Ice Borehole Probe Project. Though the process is not fully understood, scientists think that, upstream, ice and gravel have frozen onto the base of the ice sheet. With the ice streams in constant motion, water may slide under debris- laden layers, lifting them up, allowing the process to repeat. Further research on these ice layers could provide significant information about the processes occurring upstream and help researchers understand how ice streams flow and stop flowing. The West Antarctic ice sheet, along with the rest of the Antarctic ice sheet, holds a potential treasure trove of information related to the geological history of this frozen continent and the mechanisms by which ice travels from the ice sheet to the sea. Studies show that significant changes in glacier melting and flow rates could have a considerable impact on global sea levels. The Antarctic Ice Borehole Project is a collaborative effort of JPL and the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, supported by NASA and the National Science Foundation, Arlington, Va. The three-month glaciological investigation, from October 2000 to January 2001, took place at Stream C, an area in the West Antarctic ice sheet where 150 years ago the ice suddenly stopped flowing in one area in the middle of the stream. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL
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