The AMUNDSEN SEA, an arm of the Southern Ocean off Marie Byrd Land in western Antarctica , lies between Cape Flying Fish (the northwestern tip of Thurston Island ) to the east and Cape Dart on Siple Island to the west. Cape Flying Fish marks the boundary between the Amundsen Sea and the Bellingshausen Sea . West of Cape Dart there is no named marginal sea of the Southern Ocean between the Amundsen and Ross Seas. The Norwegian expedition of 1928–1929 under Captain Nils Larsen named the body of water for the Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen while exploring this area in February 1929.
The sea is mostly ice-covered, and the Thwaites Ice Tongue protrudes
into it. The ice sheet which drains into the
AMUNDSEN SEA EMBAYMENT
The ice sheet which drains into the
Some scientists have proposed that this region may be a "weak underbelly" of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet . The Pine Island and Thwaites Glaciers, which both flow into the Amundsen Sea, are two of Antarctica's largest five. Scientists have found that the flow of these glaciers has increased in recent years, if they were to melt completely global sea levels would rise by about 0.9–1.9 m (1–2 yards). Scientist have suggested that the loss of these glaciers would destabilise the entire West Antarctic ice sheet and possibly sections of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet .
A study in October 2004 suggested that because the ice in the
Measurements made by the
British Antarctic Survey in 2005 showed that
the ice discharge rate into the
A subglacial volcano has also been detected in the area, just north
Pine Island Glacier near the
Hudson Mountains . It last erupted
approximately 2,200 years ago, indicated by widespread ash deposits
within the ice, in what was the largest known eruption in Antarctica
within the past 10 millennia. Volcanic activity in the region may be
contributing to the observed increase of glacial flow, although
currently the most popular theory amongst the scientists studying this
area is that the flow has increased due to warming ocean water. This
water has warmed due to an upwelling of deep ocean water which is due
to variations in pressure systems, which could have been affected by
global warming .
In January 2010, a modelling study suggested that the "tipping point" for Pine Island Glacier may have been passed in 1996, with a retreat of 200 km possible by 2100, producing a corresponding 24 cm (0.79 ft) of sea level rise , although it was suggested that these estimates for timespan were conservative. However, the modelling study also states that "Given the complex, three-dimensional nature of the real Pine Island glacier ... it should be clear that the model is a very crude representation of reality."
PINE ISLAND BAY
PINE ISLAND BAY (74°50′S 102°40′W / 74.833°S 102.667°W / -74.833; -102.667 ) is a bay about 40 miles (64 km) long and 30 miles (48 km) wide, into which flows the ice of the Pine Island Glacier at the southeast extremity of the Amundsen Sea. It was delineated from aerial photographs taken by USN Operation Highjump in December 1946, and named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) for the USS _Pine Island_ , seaplane tender and flagship of the eastern task group of USN Operation Highjump which explored this area.
RUSSELL BAY (73°27′S 123°54′W / 73.450°S 123.900°W / -73.450; -123.900 ) is a rather open bay in southwestern Amundsen Sea, extending along the north sides of Siple Island , Getz Ice Shelf and Carney Island , from Pranke Island to Cape Gates . It was mapped by United States Geological Survey (USGS) from surveys and U.S. Navy air photos, 1959–66, and named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) for Admiral James S. Russell, USN, Vice Chief of Naval Operations during the post 1957–58 IGY period.
* ^ "Amundsen Sea". _ Geographic Names Information System _. United States Geological Survey . Retrieved 23 October 2011. * ^ Pearce, Fred (2007). _With Speed and Violence: Why scientists fear tipping points in climate change_. Beacon Press Books. ISBN 978-0-8070-8576-9 . * ^ Flannery, Tim F. (2006). _The Weather Makers: How man is changing the climate and what it means for life on Earth_. HarperCollins. p. 356. ISBN 0-00-200751-7 . * ^ Strom, Robert (2007). "The Melting Earth". _Hot House: Global Climate Change and the Human Condition_. Coprenicus Books. p. 302. * ^ Black, Richard (20 January 2008). "Ancient Antarctic eruption noted". _ BBC News _. London : BBC . Retrieved 22 October 2011. * ^ Corr, H. F. J.; Vaughan, D. G. (2008). "A recent volcanic eruption beneath the West Antarctic ice sheet". _ Nature Geoscience _. 1 (2): 122–125. Bibcode :2008NatGe...1..122C. doi :10.1038/ngeo106 .
* ^ Mosher, Dave (20 January 2008). "Buried
* Lubin, Dan; Massom, Robert (2006). _Polar Remote Sensing_. New York: Springer . * Schnellnhuber, Hans Joachim, ed. (2006). _Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change_. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* Airborne Geophysical