Scientists Urge Global Study of Little-Known Antarctic Basin Tied to Major Sea-Level Rise Risks

Researchers are calling for an urgent international effort to study the largely unexplored Wilkes Subglacial Basin in East Antarctica, which holds enough ice to lift global sea levels by several metres.

Study Details

Experts from 14 countries, including New Zealand, published a study demanding coordinated data collection for the region. Victoria University climate scientist Nancy Bertler noted that limited evidence shows a risk of rapid change as the climate warms. For a long time, researchers focused mostly on the smaller West Antarctic ice sheet, assuming the much bigger and colder East Antarctica would remain stable. However, sparse data from areas around the basin now points to serious risk. Since the 1990s, the basin's main Cook Glacier has thinned faster and now discharges 40 billion tonnes of ice into the sea every year. Victoria University ice sheet modeller Nick Golledge explained that warming seawater seeping between the bedrock and the ice sheet can melt the ice from below, pushing it toward a tipping point where it becomes unstable.

Past and Present

Past geological records show the ice sheet retreated significantly about three million years ago during the Pliocene era. Carbon dioxide concentrations then were between 365 and 415 parts per million, whereas current levels have reached 426 parts per million. Researchers say this means carbon dioxide is already higher than it was during that past retreat, but better observations and models are needed to reduce uncertainty.

Logistical Hurdles

Getting data from the region will be very difficult. No ship has ever come within 150 kilometres of the Cook Glacier terminus, and researchers state that multiple icebreakers will be needed for an effort that could take five to 10 years to coordinate. Reaching the basin by land is equally tough because it is separated from New Zealand's Scott Base and the US McMurdo Station by the Trans-Antarctic Mountains. Earlier this year, a New Zealand-led team successfully retrieved a core from beneath half a kilometre of ice on the West Antarctic ice sheet after three summers of trying.

Context

Studying remote polar regions requires massive logistical support, including icebreakers, deep-drilling equipment, and aircraft to transport teams across vast icy terrains. Scientific collaboration across many nations helps share the high costs and logistical burdens of polar research.