Thwaites glacier is unstable. Researchers have sent a camera down to find out what's going on (www.abc.net.au)

Antarctica’s Thwaites glacier holds enough water to raise global sea levels by 65 centimetres. New research shows steep terraces and fissures in the glacier shelf are speeding up its melting.

Thwaites is one of Antarctica’s least stable glaciers, and this information helps researchers accurately model how quickly it’s retreating.

“Our research certainly points to Thwaites melting in a different manner than was expected,” study co-author Peter Washam from Cornell University said.

The glacier holds enough water to raise global sea levels by 65 centimetres, and has retreated by about 14 kilometres since the late 1990s.It also acts as a buffer, holding back neighbouring glaciers that contain around three metres of potential sea level rise.

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  1. Quoting from the article:

    “The researchers deployed the sophisticated vehicle called “Icefin” down a borehole, made using a hot-water drill through hundreds of metres of glacier, said glaciologist Ben Galton-Fenzi from the Australian Antarctic Division, who wasn’t involved with the research. “

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