Why so many acronyms went to Thwaites Glacier this Antarctic field season

Martin Truffer

Physics Dept./GI UAF

A few years ago the US and UK decided to initiate a collaborative program to study the Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica in more detail. This was a reaction to a number of assessments that deemed this particular glacier one of the most vulnerable, yet least understood, in terms of sea level rise over the next few decades. Eight joint proposals were eventually funded of which six require field work in a very remote and logistically challenging part of Antarctica. Dale Pomraning and myself were part of the TARSAN (Thwaites-Amundson Regional Survey And Network) project, which consists of a combination of ship-based and land-based work, such as active seismics and radar. Our particular contribution involved hot-water drilling through a 300 m thick ice shelf and installing ocean moorings, that are now reporting ocean and weather data back through satellite. I will talk a bit about the project in its larger context and then show some pictures from our recent work, which was just completed a few weeks ago.