Terms like “glacial” are often applied to regions like the Antarctic. Although that might create an image of slowly changing landscapes, sometimes it’s quite the opposite.

A recent study conducted by researchers from Khalifa University shows that snow can grow or shrink daily due to sudden weather shifts.

While studying the ice close to Mawson Station in East Antarctica, scientists discovered that although the seasonal patterns of growing and shrinking sea ice is predictable, the snow on top can change quickly.

These shifts aren’t caused by seasonal changes, but by sudden weather. Extreme snowfall, strong winds or gusts of warm air can add, shift or remove snow.

Most notably, these changes can be caused by atmospheric rivers, which are large streams of moisture in the air that can simultaneously drop snow and stir up strong winds that could blow much of the snow away.

Katabatic winds (fast-moving air speeding down from the Antarctic’s high interior) can also be responsible for removing snow from the surface or disappearing it into the air.

Why does this matter?

Snow and sea ice help regulate the Earth’s climate. Understanding that the Antarctic ice system is more akin to a volatile stock market than a slow drift can help scientists improve climate models and better understand what’s coming next as Antarctic ice continues to shift.

More like this: A river runs over it