Geothermal heating beneath West Antarctica's ice sheet is warming at a higher rate than previously thought.

Their work published in the journal Science Advances, the new study's authors were keen to point out that their results are not to blame for the region's ice loss. They noted that has already been chronicled in other studies.

"The ice sheet developed and evolved with the geothermal heat flux coming up from below - it's part of the system. But this could help explain why the ice sheet is so unstable. When you add the effects of global warming, things can start to change quickly," study lead author Andrew Fisher, professor of Earth and planetary sciences at the University of California - Santa Cruz (UCSC), said in a press release. "This is the first geothermal heat flux measurement made below the West Antarctic ice sheet, so we don't know how localized these warm geothermal conditions might be. This is a region where there is volcanic activity, so this measurement may be due to a local heat source in the crust."

Higher temperatures toward the ice sheet's base contribute to its network of subsurface bodies of water. It also adds to the larger picture of why the ice sheet is decreasing in size.

"It is important that we get this number right if we are going to make accurate predictions of how the West Antarctic ice sheet will behave in the future, how much it is melting, how quickly ice streams flow, and what the impact might be on sea level rise," study co-author Slawek Tulaczyk, professor of Earth and planetary sciences at UCSC, said in the release. "I waited for many years to see a directly measured value of geothermal flux from beneath this ice sheet."

(Source: University of California - Santa Cruz)