Ends of the Earth: Journeys to the Polar Regions in Search of Life, the Cosmos, and Our Future

by Neil Shubin

At the coast, ice meets the sea and liquid water interacts with solid ice. The melting here is the most dramatic because the warmth of the ocean causes the edge of the glacier to thin, collapse, and crumble into the sea. Melt can also happen from below when the relatively warm water of the ocean flows underneath the glacier between the bedrock floor and the ice. This melt can set off a chain reaction: the more the leading edge collapses, the faster the ice streams will bring ice from the interior to the coast, leading to more ice interacting with the warm ocean waters. Some coastal glaciers, such as the Cadman Glacier, have lost as much as 60 feet of height—the equivalent of a five-story building—in a single year.