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The Thwaites' tongue goes when Iceberg B45 goes A/K/A, pinning point 9. [1]

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Date: 2023-01-20  

Kris Van Steenbergen provides critical information on the seventy-mile-wide glacier front of the Thwaites Glacier.

As you know, Iceberg B22A recently floated off the sea mountain it was attached to and now flows in the highly vulnerable Amundsen Sea Embayment on its way to the open ocean.

The iceberg still provides some minimal blocking of southern ocean storm waves to the glacier front. Kris notes that once B22A enters the open ocean, warm water and powerful waves will likely remove the smaller iceberg B45 ( pinning point 9) from its sea mount and likely cause the collapse of the remaining ice tongue. A domino effect of the remaining pinning points is threatening reality.

The tweet below includes the entire conversation on the remaining pinning points and their threat to the stability of the Amundsen Sea Embayment.

I have replicated Van Steenbergen’s tweets. Many Thwaites experts have left Twitter, and Elon Musk has significantly damaged the science reporting on the glacier. Twitter has been instrumental for climatologists to share information.

The media has yet to report on the fuckery unfolding at Thwaites.

x The central part of the calving field exerts a force on the western flank of the glacier tongue parallel to the submarine slope, which could potentially cause serious destabilization if iceberg B45 (pinning point 9) detaches & slides towards iceberg B22a into deeper water. pic.twitter.com/WtUAWV7BRx — Kris Van Steenbergen (@KrVaSt) January 19, 2023

The Thwaites Glacier Tongue, its debris & a few neighbouring features are losing grip. Pinning points (or anchor points if you want) like point 4, 6 & 8 are very important to monitor, because when the fast ice above them will melt a little more they'll be lost as buttress system.

x Pinning point 9 (iceberg B45) is a crucial anchor point which fastens the entire western ice shelf behind its eastern cliff.



The sea ice field in front of PIG keeps the entire eastern part of the glacier tongue stable, through a lateral tension near pinning points 1, 2, 3 & 5. pic.twitter.com/u14igEVKG6 — Kris Van Steenbergen (@KrVaSt) January 19, 2023

x Pinning point 9 seems collapsing.

The tension of the arch holds the glacier tongue in place (for now).

Iceberg B22a, which was buttressing the sea ice field in front of iceberg B45, has moved far enough to induce a severe destabilisation of the western part of the glacier tongue. — Kris Van Steenbergen (@KrVaSt) January 19, 2023

x When iceberg B22a will have left the bay, big waves & warm water could seriously destabilize both flanks of the glacier, as well as affect the central part of the calving front, as warmer water could move closer to the bottom of the glacier, due to the undertow expanding inland. — Kris Van Steenbergen (@KrVaSt) January 19, 2023

x Beyond the parallel cliff below the calving front the subglacial ice quality gets worse every summer (even basal melt during winter!).



This makes our glacier is getting less stable very quickly. The calving front is situated in the middle of the GIF & the video. pic.twitter.com/tjMcVs85Oi — Kris Van Steenbergen (@KrVaSt) January 19, 2023

x We're getting in a precarious phase now, because the glacier & its tongue are losing almost 10 meters of thickness per year, due to basal melt 365 days/year.



I really want every single expert to respond to this analysis.



The main thought:

When B45 goes, the glacier tongue goes! — Kris Van Steenbergen (@KrVaSt) January 19, 2023

x We see a small ice breakup now near pinning point 10 (next to iceberg B45) while iceberg B22a keeps moving to the northeast.https://t.co/hcEZz8vggu



Severe basal melt keeps continuing as long as these extreme anomalies in the upper ocean layer increase.https://t.co/8GNrq7jwZd pic.twitter.com/UTiUJUnXRG — Kris Van Steenbergen (@KrVaSt) January 19, 2023

I’ll keep you posted as conditions warrant.

For further reading:

The Thwaites' tongue goes when Iceberg B45 goes A/K/A, pinning point 9.

Somewhere on Thwaites Glacier is a fissure so deep that it threatens the world's coastlines.

Lowest sea ice on record powers ocean gyres as a heat source that is poised to take out W Antarctica

Iceberg B22 moves toward the open ocean, a verified source of volcanic activity upstream of P.I.G.

Ice is cracking further up from Thwaites, an unexpected source of heat damage from Pine Island.

Update on Thwaites Glacier: Iceberg B22a implodes.

The fingernails clinging onto Thwaites Glacier appear to be peeling off.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/20/2148249/-The-Thwaites-tongue-goes-when-Iceberg-B45-goes-A-K-A-pinning-point-9

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