Big news from the icy frontiers! 🌍❄️ Scientists have uncovered the thickest glacier on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, also known as Asia's water tower. This massive ice field, part of the Purog Kangri Glacier in Tsonyi County, southwest of the Chinese mainland's Xizang Autonomous Region, boasts a stunning thickness of nearly 400 meters.
This discovery means the Purog Kangri Glacier has now surpassed the Guliya Ice Cap in Ngari Prefecture to become the thickest on the plateau. But why does this matter? Glaciers are like nature's time capsules, holding valuable information about Earth's climate history.
Previously, scientists drilled a 308.6-meter ice core from the Guliya Ice Cap, revealing climate data from over 700,000 years ago. Now, researchers are extracting ice cores from the Purog Kangri Glacier, which may contain even older ice, offering deeper insights into our planet's past.
“Currently, glaciers worldwide are retreating. Once they melt, the historical records encapsulated within them will also disappear,” said Lonnie Thompson, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Sciences. 🌡️🧊
Thompson emphasizes the importance of preserving these ice cores to retrieve crucial historical information before it's lost to climate change.
