Ice Shaking News

Most people think that all glaciers move alike, creeping steadily toward sea or valley. News from Antarctica tell us differently. It has been a shocking discovery that undermines most theories to the way glaciers move and the speed they move at. The way the earth moves is fascinating and we find different things all the time that change the stand up the worlds theories and prove another theory.


Usually twice a day the massive Whillians Ice Stream, after sticking for hours on a plain of bedrock, slips forward up to two feet, triggering seismic waves equal to a magnitude 7 earthquake. Locating th source of the powerful quakes, researchers led by Douglas Weins of Washington university in St. Louis suggest the unusual behavior occurs because the half-mile-thick glacier gets caught on the bedrock until tides from the Ross Sea free it. Someone standing on the ice wouldn't feel or see a thing. The slip plays out slowly, taking 20 to 30 minutes.

I think that it's great this is being studied. From hundreds of years ago to the present, many things have changed and sped up. And without research, these kinds of things would've never been found and our world would be a huge mystery. In this particular case, earthquakes are happening more quickly which cause the rest of the ice and bedrock to move and change quicker. It's really good thing that science is being used to help us know of these small occurring things in the earth.

As the climate warms, scientists hasten the study of how glaciers move. In Antarctica they've learned how one stops and starts. Setting off ice quakes. Gravity tugs the ice stream toward the Ross Sea. Daily tides push the Ross Ice Shelf against the descending glacier. The glacier eventually grinds to a halt above a rough area of bedrock, building up stress within the ice. When the tide falls, the ice lunges forward with powerful motion. Seismic waves are detected 3,000 miles away in Australia.

The world is continually changing and it will always be that way. It's a really good thing that we have the people in this world that spend their precious time studying the earth and it's bazaar ways. Without them we would never have a clue about the earth and it's wonders. The earthquakes that hit under the ice are only the beginning of what the earth has to offer and what the earth will do in the future. I think that we should always keep checking up the earth and its news because in all that we know, the world gives us a lot more.