Scientists map Antarctic seafloor canyons to help predict climate change
The research, published in the journal Marine Geology, shows in high resolution submarine valleys that can reach down more than 4,000 metres, more than twice the depth of the Grand Canyon in the US.
The resulting data shows that the canyons may have a bigger impact than thought on ocean circulation, ice-shelf thinning and climate change.
The study was carried out by researchers from the Faculty of Earth Sciences at the University of Barcelona, Spain, and the marine geosciences research group at University College Cork, Ireland.
The Antarctic canyons resemble those elsewhere 'but tend to be larger and deeper because of the prolonged action of polar ice and the immense volumes of sediment transported by glaciers to the continental shelf', said David Amblàs of the research team.
He added: 'That's why we must continue to gather high-resolution bathymetric data in unmapped areas that will surely reveal new canyons, collect observational data … and keep improving our climate models to better represent these processes and increase the reliability of projections on climate change impacts.'
Submarine canyons are carved valleys on the seafloor that play a crucial role in the movement of sediments, nutrients and the creations of biodiverse habitats. Antarctica's canyons become enlarged because of the turbulent water currents that carry sediments at high speed through them.
Scientists have been able to map in high resolution only 27% of the Earth's seafloor, uncovering 10,000 submarine canyons worldwide. But most of these canyons remain underexplored, especially in polar regions.
Using data from the International Bathymetric Chart of the Southern Ocean, researchers produced high-resolution maps of 332 Antarctic canyon networks, five times as many as previous studies had managed. The most spectacular of these are in east Antarctica and 'characterised by complex, branching canyon systems', said Amblàs.
Sign up to Down to Earth
The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential
after newsletter promotion
Maps of the Antarctic submarine canyons are increasingly recognised by scientists as essential for understanding the impact of the climate crisis. The canyons channel warm water from the open sea towards the coastline, thinning the floating ice shelves and contributing to the rise in global sea levels, said Riccardo Arosio, another of the researchers.
Mapping the seafloor and its influence on the movement of water is necessary to build accurate ocean circulation models that can be used to predict the impact of the climate crisis, especially in vulnerable polar regions.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
a day ago
- The Guardian
UK recovers position in EU's Horizon Europe science research programme
The UK is quickly recovering a prime position in the EU's £80bn science research programme 18 months after becoming a participating member following the resolution of Brexit problems, data shows. The country was frozen out of Horizon Europe for three years in a tit-for-tat row with the then prime minister, Boris Johnson, over the Northern Ireland trading arrangements. While the UK has to play catch-up, entering three years into the seven-year 2020-27 funding programme, data shows British scientists are punching above their weight with €735m (£635m) in grants in 2024. That ranks the UK as the fifth most successful country in the programme, which is open to 43 nations: the 27 EU member states and 16 non-EU associate members also including New Zealand, Canada and Norway. Germany, the top participant in Horizon in 2024, won €1.4bn (£1.21bn) in grants and Spain, which came third, got €900m (£777m). Scientists have said previously they were 'over the moon' to be back working with EU colleagues. They said they knew it would take time to return to the top three because of the time it took to build multinational consortiums to apply for funds. But in terms of grants for proposals by individual scientists, which are easier to assemble, the UK now ranks as the second-most successful participating country after Germany, with €242m (£209m) in funds. The UK is the single most successful applicant country when it comes to Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, one of the most prestigious grant programmes for doctoral and post-doctoral research in the world. UK scientists have said repeatedly the Brexit lockout damaged Britain's reputation on the world stage and made it difficult for universities to recruit researchers from the EU. In terms of recipients, the universities of Oxford and Cambridge are neck and neck, with awards of over €65m each, followed by University College London and Imperial College. With projects ranging from the research to develop brain catheters inspired by wasps to efforts to create aviation fuel from yeast and greenhouse gases, the UK has been catapulted to the top of the league of non-EU beneficiaries by number of grants. Sign up to Headlines Europe A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day after newsletter promotion Ferdinando Rodriguez y Baena, a professor in medical robotics at Imperial College London recently completed a 15-year Horizon-backed research project creating a cranial catheter inspired by a conversation he had with the renowned zoologist Julian Vincent about wasps' ability to penetrate hard tree bark to lay eggs. Smaller grantees have included individual projects on topics such as textile recycling, conservation and robots on farms. The UK was one of the leading beneficiaries of Horizon, earning more in grants than it contributed in funds before Brexit.
BreakingNews.ie
a day ago
- BreakingNews.ie
'Best meteor shower of the summer' set for Tuesday night, Astronomy Ireland says
Astronomy Ireland is alerting everyone in Ireland to the peak activity of the best meteor shower of the summer, 'The Perseids'. Editor of Astronomy Ireland magazine, David Moore, said spectators can expect to see "20 times more shooting stars tonight than a normal night". Advertisement "There will be a bright Moon in the sky and this will drown out some of the faint meteors, but the most spectacular brighter ones will still be well seen so we are urging people to get the whole family out and watch this 'celestial fireworks' display provided by Mother Nature." Perseid meteors can appear anywhere in the sky but their paths point back to the constellation (star-pattern) Perseus, which is in the north-east as seen from Ireland each evening. Spectators will need to wait until the sky is quite dark, and are urged to try and view as late as they can. Some Perseid meteors can be extremely bright and leave glow trails behind them. 20 Perseids per hour should be visible even with the strong moonlight. Advertisement "It is best to stand with your back to the Moon and look half way up the sky" Moore said. Rare double planet In an unprecedented event, Moore said the planets Venus and Jupiter will be extremely close for those who stay up until 3am Wednesday morning. Set your alarm for 4am for the best view. "Venus is 100 times bright than the brightest star in the sky so it is extremely spectacular to the naked eye" Moore said. "Furthermore, Jupiter is nearly as bright as Venus and will be extremely close as seen with the naked eye, just above Venus - I have never seen anything this spectacular involving bright planets in all my life. "We really want everyone in Ireland to get up at 4am and see this extremely rare chance alignment - they will probably never seen anything like it again in their lifetime. This apparent 'close approach' is just a chance alignment, Venus is actually five times closer to Earth than Jupiter is on Wednesday morning and they will be fairly close for several mornings after that if clouds spoil the view on Wednesday morning.
The Sun
2 days ago
- The Sun
Frozen remains of Brit adventurer, 25, lost in Antarctic are finally found after he vanished nearly 60 years ago
THE remains of a Brit researcher who died in Antarctica have been discovered nearly six decades after a tragic accident. Dennis 'Tink' Bell, at the time 25, fell into a crevasse during an Antarctic mission - leaving his devastated family unable to repatriate his body. 6 6 6 Dennis's body was never recovered until January 29 - when a team of Polish researchers from the Henryk Arctowski Polish Antarctic Station stumbled upon bones later confirmed to be his. His brother, David Bell, told the BBC: "I had long given up on finding my brother. It is just remarkable, astonishing. I can't get over it." Born in 1934, Dennis worked with the RAF and trained as a meteorologist before joining the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey - later renamed the British Antarctic Survey. In 1958, he began a two-year posting at the UK base in Admiralty Bay, Antarctica. His main role was to send up weather balloons and radio the data back to the UK every three hours - work that meant firing up a generator in brutal sub-zero conditions. The base sat on King George Island - around 75 miles off the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. Archivist Ieuan Hopkins from the British Antarctic Survey unearthed detailed reports describing work on the "ridiculously isolated" island. One report described Dennis as "cheerful and industrious, with a mischievous sense of humour and fondness for practical jokes". He was said to have loved the husky dogs that pulled sledges around the island and was known as the hut's best cook - often managing the food store through the long winter when no supplies could get in. The fatal accident happened just weeks after his 25th birthday, while Dennis was surveying King George Island to help map the terrain. On July 26 1959 - deep in the Antarctic winter - Dennis and his colleague and pal Jeff Stokes had climbed and surveyed a glacier. Dennis was encouraging the weary dogs but wasn't wearing his skis when he suddenly vanished into a crevasse, according to British Antarctic Survey accounts. Jeff shouted down to him and Dennis was able to call back, grabbing hold of a rope lowered in a rescue attempt. The dogs pulled at the rope, hauling Dennis - who had attached it to his belt - up towards the edge of the hole. 6 6 But tragically, the belt broke and Dennis fell back into the crevasse. When Jeff called out again, Dennis didn't reply. David Bell recalled how, in July 1959, a telegram boy knocked on the door of the Bells' family home in Harrow, London to deliver the devastating news of Dennis' death. He said two men from Dennis's base later visited the family and brought a sheepskin as a gesture of sympathy. "But there was no conclusion. There was no service; there was no anything. Just Dennis gone," David says. David described feeling overwhelmed by the news and expressed his gratitude to the Polish researchers who found his remains. "I'm just sad my parents never got to see this day," he said. David, who lives in Australia, plans to visit England with his sister Valerie so they can lay their beloved brother to rest. "It's wonderful; I'm going to meet my brother. You might say we shouldn't be thrilled, but we are," David said. "He's been found - he's come home now." Professor Dame Jane Francis, Director of the British Antarctic Survey, paid tribute to Dennis: "Dennis was one of the many brave personnel who contributed to the early science and exploration of Antarctica under extraordinarily harsh conditions. "Even though he was lost in 1959, his memory lived on among colleagues and in the legacy of polar research." Since 1944, 29 people have died working in the British Antarctic Territory on scientific missions, according to the British Antarctic Monument Trust. Among them were Alan Sharman and Russell Thompson, who also died in 1959.
