“We usually consider ice as a strong product, so the discovery that parts of the Greenland Ice Sheet really go through thermal convection, looking like a boiling pot of pasta, is as wild as it is remarkable,” stated University of Bergen’s Professor Andreas Born, co-author of the research study.

“Finding that thermal convection can occur within an ice sheet goes a little versus our instinct and expectations,” stated lead author Dr. Robert Law, likewise from the University of Bergen.

“Ice is at least a million times softer than the Earth’s mantle, however, so the physics simply exercise. It’s like an interesting freak of nature.”

“Our discovery might be crucial to minimizing unpredictabilities in designs of future ice sheet mass balance and sea-level increase,” Professor Born included.

The deep ice might be around 10 times softer than typically presumed, this does not always indicate it will melt quicker.

“Improving our understanding of ice physics is a truly significant method to be more specific about the future, however by itself, softer ice does not always indicate that the ice will melt much faster or that water level increase will be greater. We require more research studies to totally separate that,” Dr. Law stated.

The findings do not forecast catastrophe on Greenland or somewhere else, however they do highlight how intricate and vibrant Greenland is.

“Greenland and its nature is really unique,” Dr. Law stated.

“The ice sheet there is over one thousand years of ages, and it’s the only ice sheet in the world to have a culture and irreversible population at its margins.”

“The more we discover the surprise procedures inside the ice, the much better prepared we’ll be for the modifications concerning shorelines around the globe.”

The outcomes appear this month in The Cryosphere

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R. Law et al2026. Checking out the conditions favorable to convection within the Greenland Ice Sheet. The Cryosphere 20: 1071-1086; doi: 10.5194/ tc-20-1071-2026