According to a study led by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), Antarctica has a total ice volume of 27.17 million cubic kilometers (km3), covering over 13.63 million square kilometers (km2), with an average thickness of 1,948 m. The thickest point was identified as Wilkes Land, at 4,757 m, equivalent to 16 times the height of Yachthouse Residence Club 1, the tallest building in Brazil, which is located in Balneário Camboriú, Santa Catarina, and stands at 294 m. If all this ice were to melt, global sea levels could rise by 58 m. Known as Bedmap3, the map incorporates more than six decades of data acquired by satellites, planes, ships, and even dog sled teams. The information could help improve climate models and indicate how ice will flow as temperatures rise. “It has become clear that the Antarctic Ice Sheet is thicker than we originally realized and has a larger volume of ice that is grounded [where ice at the edge of the continent meets the ocean and begins to float] on a rock bed sitting below sea level. This puts the ice at greater risk of melting due to the incursion of warm ocean water that’s occurring at the fringes of the continent,” said the BAS’s Peter Fretwell in a statement issued by the British research center. “Antarctica is slightly more vulnerable than we previously thought (Scientific Data, March 12).”
