Not exact matches
Meteorites are also easier to locate in Antarctica partly because
of the contrast between dark rocks and
white ice sheet, says Ralph Harvey, principal investigator
of the U.S. - led Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET) program.
Sunlight tends to bounce off the
white, reflective surfaces
of glaciers and
ice sheets, but the darker surfaces
of dirty ground
ice can absorb greater amounts
of solar radiation.
Carlo Barbante (left), an analytical chemist from the University
of Venice in Italy, and Andrew Mitchell, a microbial geochemist from Aberystwyth University in England, sport
white Tyvex suits on the Antarctic
Ice Sheet.
Traveling by helicopter from the main American base
of McMurdo Station on Ross Island to the Dry Valleys, researchers fly over a portion
of the Ross
Ice Shelf and then a corner
of the mesmerizing
white spread
of the East Antarctic
Ice Sheet, which is the largest in the world.
On a clear day, anyone flying over Greenland on the route between North America and Europe can look down and see the bright blue patches
of melted water atop the flat, blindingly
white expanse
of the
ice sheet that covers the island, the second largest chunk
of ice on Earth.
There was an era called
white earth which starts about 700 million years ago with alternating periods
of deep
ice sheets and then hotter warmer stages which led to formation
of various kinds
of crystals, and last and luckily we live in the period known as green earth, which started about 400 million years ago when multicellular life arose and wholly changed to biochemical breakdown the makeup
of the minerals on the planet again.
The notch
of water in the black and
white cross-section
of the
ice might not look like much, but the small pools
of water that persist through the winter have the potential to have large impacts on the
sheet's durability.
Recent summers on the vast,
white expanse
of the Greenland
ice sheet have featured some spectacular
ice melt, including an alarming period in 2012 when nearly the whole surface showed signs
of melt.
As discussed on the CRYOLIST listserv, the confusion came most likely from a confusion in definitions
of what is the permanent
ice sheet, and what are glaciers, with the «glaciers» being either dropped from the Atlas entirely or colored brown (instead
of white)(No - one that I have seen has posted the legend from the Atlas that gives the definition
of the various shadings, though in the 1994 edition I have, glaciers are (unsurprisingly)
white, not brown).
... the confusion came most likely from a confusion in definitions
of what is the permanent
ice sheet, and what are glaciers, with the «glaciers» being either dropped from the Atlas entirely or colored brown (instead
of white)... there is simply no measure — neither thickness nor areal extent — by which Greenland can be said to have lost 15 %
of its
ice.
If all
of the currently attainable carbon resources [estimated to be between 8500 and 13.600 GtC (4)-RSB- were burned, the Antarctic
Ice Sheet would lose most of its mass, raising global sea level by more than 50 m. For the 125 GtC as well as the 500, 800, 2500, and 5000 GtC scenarios, the ice - covered area is depicted in white (ice - free bedrock in brow
Ice Sheet would lose most
of its mass, raising global sea level by more than 50 m. For the 125 GtC as well as the 500, 800, 2500, and 5000 GtC scenarios, the
ice - covered area is depicted in white (ice - free bedrock in brow
ice - covered area is depicted in
white (
ice - free bedrock in brow
ice - free bedrock in brown).
They develop when piles
of wind - blown debris settle on the
white, reflective surface
of a glacier or
ice sheet.
«Warm water, as one could imagine, is the enemy
of ice, and we don't monitor ocean currents and ocean temperatures near the
ice sheet nearly as much as we should,»
White said.