Thanks largely to the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission, scientists have discovered that the fast-flowing Kohler East glacier in Antarctica is rapidly siphoning ice from a neighboring flow at a pace never before seen. The glacier feeds the Dotson Ice Shelf, imaged here by Sentinel-1.
Kohler East is one of the fastest-changing glaciers in West Antarctica. Glaciers in this region have the highest recorded rates of thinning and grounding-line retreat in Antarctica. The grounding line is the point at which glaciers on land transition to ice shelves and start to float. If the grounding line retreats, this can cause instability and even faster flow of the ice sheet toward the ocean.
Image Credit: Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2022), processed by ESA
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Dotson Ice Shelf from Sentinel-1
