Hidden island revealed as ice covering retreats

Scientists have discovered a new island in Antarctica after record temperatures melted glaciers and ice caps that had previously hidden it.

The island, named Sif after the Norse goddess and wife of Thor, was spotted by researchers from the Thwaites Glacier Offshore Research project (known as Thor), as their ship passed through Pine Island Bay in western Antarctica. After looking at their charts, the crew realised they had discovered a new island, according to a report in the journal Nature.

The discovery came as weather stations on the continent have measured record warm temperatures.

Sif is thought to have first emerged above sea level some years ago because of changes to Earth’s crust caused by melting glaciers and climate change.

The researchers aboard the United States National Science Foundation’s chartered research vessel Nathaniel B Palmer had been on a mission to collect seabed samples to investigate the retreat of the Thwaites glacier in west Antarctica.

Melting ice releases pressure on Earth’s crust, which causes the ground to rise. Collecting samples from the Antarctic island could help the Thor team to determine how quickly these changes are happening.

‘‘After being the first visitors, we can now confirm that Sif island is made of granite and that it is covered by remnant ice shelf, and a few seals,’’ Julia Wellner, a marine geologist at the University of Houston, wrote on Twitter.