Study sees powerful winds carving away Antarctic snow
Tuesday, October 13, 2015 - 06:30
in Earth & Climate
A new study has found that powerful winds are removing massive amounts of snow from parts of Antarctica, potentially boosting estimates of how much the continent might contribute to sea level. Up to now, scientists had thought that most snow scoured from parts of the continent was simply redeposited elsewhere on the surface. However, the new study shows that in certain parts, called scour zones, some 90 percent—an estimated 80 billion tons per year—is instead being vaporized, and removed altogether. The finding means that scientists must adjust their models of how much mass Antarctica is losing, and how much it might lose in the future. The study appears this week in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.