Researchers from the University of California have discovered a new way in which ice and oceans interact while studying Greenland’s Petermann Glacier. The researchers used satellite radar data from three European missions to learn that the glacier’s grounding line, where the ice detaches from the land bed and begins floating in the ocean, shifts significantly during tidal cycles. Warm seawater then intrudes and melts ice at an accelerated rate. These interactions make glaciers more sensitive to ocean warming and could increase projections of sea level rise by up to 200%.
