• The Greenland ice sheet is likely to melt faster in the years to come, despite a recent slowdown, researchers said after making a new discovery about the way glaciers move.

• Greenland contains enough ice to make the sea level mount 23 feet (seven meters) if it were to melt completely.

• The findings in the journal Science Advances show that ice in Greenland moves more quickly over sediment than hard rock.

• That means that as the world warms due to climate change, ice flow will likely speed up because the sediment beneath Greenland will become weaker, wetter and more slippery.

• “Greenland’s margin has many outlet glaciers that act as fast conveyor belts of ice. Thousands of surface lakes act as taps that deliver meltwater to the ice base, turning it into a slippery bathtub.

• “This discovery leaves us concerned because we have so far accepted the exact opposite — that Greenland’s icy conveyor would slow down.”

• Researchers based their findings on seismic surveys that send acoustic waves through the ice to gain insights on the sediment underneath.

• A previous theory held that glacier melt would slow down at the end of the summer.

• But the seismic surveys showed that sediment played the key role in controlling ice sheet flow, and weakened subglacial sediment “leads to accelerated ice flow.”

Source:TH