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takyon writes:

Antarctic glacier's rough belly exposed

The melting Antarctic ice stream that is currently adding most to sea-level rise may be more resilient to change than previously recognised. New radar images reveal the mighty Pine Island Glacier (PIG) to be sitting on a rugged rock bed populated by big hills, tall cliffs and deep scour marks. Such features are likely to slow the ice body's retreat as the climate warms, researchers say. The study appears in the journal Nature Communications [open, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01597-y] [DX].

"We've imaged the shape of the bed at a smaller scale than ever before and the message is really quite profound for the ice flow and potentially for the retreat of the glacier," said lead author Dr Rob Bingham from Edinburgh University. "Where the bed is flat - that's where we will see major retreat. But where we see these large hills and these other rough features - that's where we may see the retreat slowed if not stemmed," he told BBC News.

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