There is much evidence that the ice near the Poles is declining due to global warming and climate change. There have been studies done to show that though such decline and growth in ice has been constant in the past, it is now declining at a fast rate. A new study shows that the East Greenland ice sheet responds to climate change as much as those on the Poles do.
Ongoing glacial erosion is being experienced at East Greenland. This shows that the ice sheet in the area is still moving slowly. This glacial erosion has been going on for the past 7.5 million years, as researchers have found out.
The research team is made up of researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, University of Vermont, Boston College and Imperial College London. The team is led by Paul Bierman, a scientist from the University of Vermont. He has observed that the Greenland ice sheet has remained active for a very long time. It has at some point in time covered areas that have not been covered yet in ice, which shows that the ice sheet responds to climate change.
Little is yet known about the East Greenland ice sheet, though the researchers hope to change that. The isotope samples of beryllium are being studied by Susan Zimmerman, a scientist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The isotope samples had been taken from the quartz sand in the debris of sediment cores.
The isotope samples had been analyzed in order to give a clearer picture as to how the Greenland ice sheets moved, according to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory site. Through this analysis, it has been determined that the East Greenland glaciers first reached the coast 7.5 million years ago. Glaciation of the area occurred much earlier at 11 million years ago.
The East Greenland ice sheet is still dynamic even today. Since it responds to climate change, the current climate change being experienced will most likely have an effect on it. What the study finds is that the East Greenland area has not experienced any form of deglaciation for millions of years, as Phys Org reports.
The study of the East Greenland ice sheet has much implication on the study of the current climate change being experienced. It has been found that the East Greenland ice sheet responds to climate change. As climate change and global warming continues, a study has also found that the Antarctic has warmed much faster even in the past.
