Scientists first discovered the mysterious hole in the 1970s, but questions have remained about how it formed.
Scientists have solved part of a longstanding mystery on how a gigantic hole in Antarctica's sea ice formed.Scientists first discovered the mysterious hole, known as a polynya, in the 1970s. It was named the Maud Rise polynya, as it occurred on the Maud Rise mount in the Weddell Sea.It has occurred sporadically since the 1970s, usually only for short periods. However, in the winter of 2017, the hole persisted for several weeks and became very large.
'This upwelling helps to explain how the sea ice might melt. But as sea ice melts this leads to a freshening of the surface water, which should in turn put a stop to the mixing. So, another process must be happening for the polynya to persist. There must be an additional input of salt from somewhere,' Fabien Roquet, a professor in Physical Oceanography at the University of Gothenburg and co-author of the study, said in a statement.
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