Key Points
- Scientists used machine learning to predict how fast glaciers erode the landscape.
- Most glaciers erode the ground at a rate of 0.02 to 2.68 mm per year, about the thickness of a credit card.
- Erosion speed depends on complex factors like temperature, water, rock type, and geothermal heat.
- The new model provides erosion estimates for more than 180,000 glaciers worldwide.
Scientists have used artificial intelligence to get the clearest picture yet of how quickly glaciers carve up the landscape. A new study, led by a researcher at the University of Victoria, provides a new formula for predicting erosion rates for more than 180,000 glaciers around the world.
So, how fast do they move? Surprisingly slow. The research, published in Nature Geoscience, found that 99% of glaciers erode the ground by between 0.02 and 2.68 millimeters per year—roughly the thickness of a credit card.
The team’s analysis showed that the process is more complex than previously thought. The speed of erosion depends on a mix of factors, including the temperature, the amount of water under the glacier, the type of rock, and even heat coming from inside the Earth.
This new understanding has important real-world applications. Understanding the impact of glaciers on the landscape is crucial for long-term projects, such as storing nuclear waste, as well as for managing land and tracking the global movement of sediment and nutrients. Because it’s so difficult to measure this erosion directly in remote, icy locations, the new predictive model is a major step forward.
The international team of researchers, led by geographer Sophie Norris, used machine learning to analyze data from glaciers worldwide. Their work not only solves a longstanding puzzle in geology but also provides a crucial new tool for understanding how our planet will continue to change in the future.
