A submarine robot from the international Argo program managed to surface after eight months without communication under the Denman and Shackleton ice shelves in East Antarctica. For more than two and a half years, it navigated through extremely cold currents, recording temperature, salinity, pressure, and nutrients.
Its mission continued even when it became trapped under the platforms, unable to send data via satellite. Nevertheless, it collected profiles from the seabed to the base of the ice every five days.
The material obtained constitutes the first complete transect conducted under a platform in the eastern sector, crucial information for refining models that project the evolution of the polar system.
Study of Antarctic Ice: Findings that Reconfigure Climate Models
The records show that Shackleton maintains greater stability due to the absence of warm waters that accelerate its melting. Denman, on the other hand, shows signs of warm water intrusion under its structure.
Small thermal variations could intensify basal melting and trigger unstable retreats with global effects on sea level. This critical point occurs in a layer of just 10 meters where the ocean transfers heat to the ice.
The robot’s route, impossible to track directly, was reconstructed through a comparative effort between depth measurements and satellite data, allowing each record to be precisely located.
Ice and Ocean: Keys to Anticipating Future Risks
The study highlights the importance of incorporating more autonomous vehicles on the Antarctic platform to improve the physical representation of melting in climate models.
Accessing remote areas allows for a more accurate assessment of the stability of eastern platforms, some of which could respond rapidly to minimal changes in the ocean.
Understanding these processes is fundamental to predicting risk scenarios in coastal regions where the rise in sea level could exacerbate flooding and infrastructure loss.
Autonomous Technology: A Boost for Polar Science
The use of submarine robots allows for the collection of data impossible to obtain through traditional methods in areas covered by ice year-round.
These tools reduce human risks, expand the capacity for observation, and allow continuous monitoring for months without intervention.
Additionally, they facilitate the early detection of thermal and structural changes under the ice, improving climate projections and strengthening global adaptation strategies in response to rising sea levels.
