Scientists from the University of Toronto have discovered a huge through hole in Antarctica, the area of ​​​​which is equal to the Chelyabinsk region. Usually polynyas of this size appear in the ice near the sea - warm water simply erodes the ice. However, this hole formed three hundred kilometers from the nearest watershed.

And this means that a giant hole in the ice sheet of Antarctica appeared for some other, yet to be clarified reasons. Moreover, the very process of forming a hole was instantaneous: the ice seemed to be sucked down by a huge pipe.

The last time a similar phenomenon was observed in the 70s of the last century. At that time, scientists did not have the technical ability to study the polynya, and the process of its formation remained a mystery.

Researchers admit that this hole could result from global warming. In this case, we can consider the song of mankind sung: changes of such magnitude signal serious problems for the entire planet.

In addition, the polynya already has a significant effect on the convection in the sea. Warm water will constantly rise to the surface and prevent a new ice edge from forming. Over time, the hole will get even bigger, likely leading to the largest rupture of the Antarctic ice sheet in the history of the world.

A giant hole almost the size of Lake Baikal suddenly appeared on the surface of Antarctica, and scientists do not fully understand how this happened.

"It's like you just punched a hole in the ice," says atmospheric physicist Kent Moore, a professor at the University of Toronto at Mississauga.

Image: meereisportal.de

The sudden appearance of a nearly 80,000-kilometer hole has baffled scientists, whose access to the site is limited, for the second year in a row. “This is hundreds of kilometers from the ice edge,” Moore said. “If we didn’t have a satellite, we wouldn’t know it was there.”

An observed phenomenon known as a polynya occurs when open ocean water is surrounded by solid sea ice, resulting in changes to the surrounding ice and below. This particular polynya has been known to scientists since the 1970s, although they have not been able to fully explore it in the past.

Image: MODIS-Aqua via NASA Worldview; sea ​​ice contours from AMSR2 ASI via University of Bremen

“At the time, the scientific community had just launched the first satellites to take images of the sea ice from space,” says meteorologist Dr Torge Martin. “In situ measurements in the Southern Ocean are still a huge effort, so they are quite limited.”

This is the second year in a row that a void has been reported in Antarctica, "the second year in a row it has opened up after 40 years of absence," says Moore. While some may see this as a consequence of climate change, Moore insists further study is needed before drawing any conclusions.

However, climate change can certainly affect the structure of sea ice and polynyas. “Once the sea ice melts, there is a huge temperature contrast between the ocean and the atmosphere,” says Moore. “That could lead to convection.”

Image: Jeff Schmaltz/LANCE/EOSDIS Rapid Response/Jesse Allen/NASA

Regardless of its origin, this polynya is an additional source of information for climate studies. “For us, this ice-free area is an important new data point that we can use to validate our climate models,” Moore said. “Its appearance a few decades later also confirms our previous calculations.”

A giant hole almost three times the size of Lake Baikal suddenly appeared on the surface of Antarctica, and scientists do not fully understand how this happened?
"It's like you just punched a hole in the ice," says atmospheric physicist Kent Moore, a professor at the University of Toronto at Mississauga.

The sudden appearance of a nearly 80,000-kilometer hole has baffled scientists, whose access to the site is limited, for the second year in a row. “It's hundreds of kilometers from the ice edge,” Moore said. "If we didn't have a satellite, we wouldn't know it was there."

An observed phenomenon known as a polynya occurs when open ocean water is surrounded by solid sea ice, resulting in changes to the surrounding ice and below. This particular polynya has been known to scientists since the 1970s, although they have not been able to fully explore it in the past.

“At the time, the scientific community had just launched the first satellites to take images of sea ice from space,” says meteorologist Dr. Torge Martin. "In situ measurements in the Southern Ocean are still a huge effort, so they are quite limited."

This is the second year in a row that a void has been reported to have appeared in Antarctica, "the second year in a row it has opened after 40 years of absence," says Moore. While some may see this as a consequence of climate change, Moore insists further study is needed before drawing any conclusions.

However, climate change can certainly affect the structure of sea ice and polynyas. “Once the sea ice melts, there is a huge temperature contrast between the ocean and the atmosphere,” says Moore. "That could lead to convection."

Regardless of its origin, this polynya is an additional source of information for climate studies. “For us, this ice-free area is an important new data point that we can use to validate our climate models,” Moore said. “Its appearance a few decades later also confirms our previous calculations.”

A huge hole has formed in the Antarctic ice sheet. Scientists have no idea what caused this.

According to scientists who discovered a giant polynya using satellite images, its size exceeds the territory of the Netherlands. In September, the size of the polynya was 60 thousand square kilometers, and it was the largest a little earlier - 80 thousand square kilometers.

Scientists say that polynyas regularly form in the ice sheet, but such sizes and location away from the edge of the glacier are extremely rare.

In the 1970s, a polynya was formed in the expanses of the icy Weddell Sea, five times the size of the current one.

Study

Scientists are concerned about the fact that they cannot closely examine the polynya and cannot even guess what causes it to form and how exactly it is formed.

Researchers are preparing to send remotely piloted submersibles to the region, capable of investigating conditions both on the surface of the water and at depth.

One of these devices managed to surface just in the polynya itself. Now scientists are investigating its size and changes and are preparing to make the first assumptions about the reasons for its formation.

Unlike the first giant polynya that appeared 40 years ago, today scientists can collect much more information.

Causes

The polynya was formed hundreds of kilometers from the outskirts of the glacier, and without satellite images, it would be almost impossible to detect it. When examining the images before and after the appearance of a hole in the ice, it seems that someone punched a hole in the ice sheet with a giant fist.

Scientists suspect that the appearance of the polynya is directly or indirectly related to the effect of global warming. Today, Antarctica is the continent most affected by climate change.