Scientists Initiate Drilling into Thwaites Glacier to Investigate Subsurface Melting

On January 30, 2026, a research team from the British Antarctic Survey and the Korea Polar Research Institute began drilling into the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica. This initiative is part of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration aimed at studying how warm ocean waters are melting the glacier from below. The team has deployed instruments and started collecting data to better understand the ice melt dynamics affecting the glacier's stability.