Our favourite self-governing underwater fomite , Boaty McBoatface , has completed a two - calendar month foreign mission in which it explored a massive chalk shelf in Antarctica ’s southerly Weddell Sea . Swimming nearly a kilometer beneath the surface , and with hardly any human assistance or supervision , Boaty spent over 50 hour directly beneath the Antarctic shabu .
Boatycompleted its inaugural missionin June of 2017 , but the hoagie has now moved on to gravid , and more challenging , thing . As part of the UK ’s Filchner Ice Shelf System ( FISS ) Project , it was station late below the open , exploring the dark and mysterious underbody of the oversized floating glacier . During January and February of this year , Boaty traveled 67 miles ( 108 km ) in total , diving to depths of 3,100 metrical unit ( 944 meters ) . It spent 51 hours directly beneath the Antarctic frosting , and 20 hours explore a section of ice-skating rink measuring 1,804 metrical unit ( 550 meter ) thick .
The Filchner Ice Shelf packs more frosting than any other , extending across an area 173,746 hearty miles ( 450,000 square km ) in size , which is slimly larger than all of Germany . The peak of the missionary work , which demand researcher from the National Oceanography Centre ( NOC ) , the British Antarctic Survey , Oxford University , and other UK - establish institutions , is to set how much icy methamphetamine hydrochloride is drifting into the sea , and to clear a better understanding of how water is mixing and behaving across the front of the shelf . in the end , scientist want to be able to yield exact ocean - level project for the next 50 geezerhood .
This is where the sovereign yellowed submarine sandwich comes in . Boaty McBoatface may have a funny name , but it ’s really a very serious piece of equipment . The UAV is fortify with sensing element to measure the salinity and temperature of the urine , and it can measure ocean turbulence and the speed of water currents up to 262 feet ( 80 meters ) above and below its stance . Boaty can also notice the amount of phytoplankton in the H2O and measure the deepness of the seabed below .
For the FISS team , the commission was n’t without risks . As Boaty ventured up and down the steep vertical walls , it was at peril of being struck by fall clump of ice . interchange current could have fox its on - board seafaring systems , causing it to crash right into the shelf . The missionary station was made even more fraught by virtue of the fact that team members aboard the support ship RV Polarstern were n’t able to communicate with Boaty for 90 percent of its time under water system .
“ We jazz that the environment was harsh , with -20 Celsius [ -4 degree F ] air temperatures and sea temperature very close to the freezing stage of brine , ” said Steve McPhail , head of AUV Development at the NOC , in a command . “ Under the ice shelves there are meaning tidal current and the high southward parallel pose difficulties for the AUV ’s underwater sailing . Once in the internal-combustion engine shelf caries we had neither elaborate information on the heaviness of the ice , nor the depth of the water . ”
The FISS squad would anxiously hold off for Boaty to return after being drop dead for upwards of 48 hours at a time , and in mostly unknown marine environments .
“ I was very relieve each time the AUV turned up , on time , and in the right post , circle 900 thou [ 2,300 feet ] below the ship , ” said McPhail . “ Even then our problem were not over . With the surface of the sea frozen , we take RV Polarstern ’s help to create an glass cakehole through which we cautiously navigated the AUV . ”
With this stage of the missionary station complete , Boaty ’s data point will now be study by scientists .
As you may recall , the chickenhearted submarine got its name afterthe Natural Environment Research Council refused to honour a pollin which the populace was give the opportunity to name the UK ’s newest icy research ship . Instead , the ship was gift the name RRS Sir David Attenborough and the long - mountain chain AUV was christened Boaty McBoatface as a kind of consolation prize .
[ National Oceanography Centre ]
AntarcticaClimate changeGlobal warmingScience
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