An ice sheet, as a geophysical substance, is a massive, contiguous body of glacial ice that covers more than 50,000 km² and is sufficiently thick (often >2–3 km) for its internal deformation and basal sliding to dominate flow dynamics. Composed primarily of recrystallized freshwater ice with embedded air bubbles, dust, and minor impurities, it exhibits anisotropic rheological behavior described by non-Newtonian creep laws (e.g., Glen’s flow law). Ice sheets thermally stratify between cold and temperate regimes, store the majority of Earth’s terrestrial freshwater, and interact with bedrock and subglacial hydrological systems, influencing isostasy, basal lubrication, and large-scale mass balance.
A team of international scientists sets sail Thursday from Britain for Greenland to study its rapidly melting ice using drones, mini-submarines and autonomous swimming robots.
Earth Sciences
Jul 16, 2026
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East Antarctica hosts the largest ice sheet on Earth, containing enough water to raise global sea levels by 52 meters (171 feet) were it to fully melt. Yet scientists have been puzzled for decades about how and why this ice ...
Earth Sciences
Jul 6, 2026
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Scientists have uncovered why Antarctica became engulfed by ice millions of years before the Arctic. The international research, published in Science, helps solve one of climate science's longest-standing puzzles: how a vast ...
Earth Sciences
Jul 2, 2026
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Human-driven climate change significantly intensified the retreat of one of the most important glaciers in Antarctica during the 20th century. The Pine Island Glacier, which drains a large part of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 28, 2026
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"What goes on in Antarctica doesn't stay in Antarctica—it has global implications," Geology tauira Natalie-Jane Reid says. Reid is one of two Otago Ph.D. candidates who contributed to an Antarctic sediment core workshop at ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 22, 2026
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Scientists predict that the next three to five decades provide a critical window to anticipate and plan for Antarctic ice loss and its contribution to sea level rise. Research published in Nature, led by Monash University ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 20, 2026
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In a new study, Professor Shin Sugiyama of Hokkaido University and his team have directly confirmed for the first time that water from melting snow and ice, or meltwater, found at the surface of a glacier can drain to its ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 12, 2026
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New research shows surface melting across Antarctica is set to intensify and spread dramatically over the 21st century, with melt increasing 10-fold and the affected area growing by more than 10% by 2100 if global temperatures ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 12, 2026
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An international team of researchers including our Department of Geography has discovered a vast geological structure hidden beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. The findings are published in the journal Nature Geoscience.
Earth Sciences
Jun 3, 2026
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When you think of Antarctica, you might imagine a stark, otherworldly continent of endless, white ice, with the only sound being the wind punctuated by the crack of a glacier calving in the distance.
Earth Sciences
Jun 2, 2026
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