VOL. 101 | NO. 3 Ancient Assyrian Aurorae MARCH 2020 A Ski Resort Report New AGU Medalists THE THWAITES WILD CARD This unstable glacier—with its potentially disastrous effect on sea levels—is starting to show its hand. FROM THE EDITOR Editor in Chief Heather Goss, AGU, Washington, D.C., USA;
[email protected] Editorial Manager, News and Features Editor Caryl-Sue Micalizio The Threat at Thwaites Science Editor Timothy Oleson Senior News Writer Randy Showstack News Writer and Production Associate Kimberly M. S. Cartier he best—or at least most entertaining—thing I learned News and Production Fellow Jenessa Duncombe from this issue is that glaciers tend to behave “like Production & Design pancake batter on a frying pan.” Ted Scambos offers T Manager, Production and Operations Faith A. Ishii that description in this month’s cover story, “Diagnosing Senior Production Specialist Melissa A. Tribur Thwaites” (page 18). Editorial and Production Coordinator Liz Castenson Scambos is the lead scientific coordinator for the U.S. side Assistant Director, Design & Branding Beth Bagley of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC). Senior Graphic Designer Valerie Friedman Graphic Designer J. Henry Pereira Launched in 2018, this large research initiative hosts eight teams studying the past, present, and future of Thwaites, one Marketing of Antarctica’s most unstable glaciers. The problem with Director, Marketing, Branding & Advertising Jessica Latterman Thwaites, and the West Antarctic region generally, is that it’s Assistant Director, Marketing & Advertising Liz Zipse Marketing Program Manager like pancake batter sliding around in too much oil—as it loses Angelo Bouselli Senior Specialist, Digital Marketing Nathaniel Janick mass from both above and below, ocean water is creeping in Digital Marketing Coordinator Ashwini Yelamanchili underneath and reducing the friction between the ice and the bedrock, allowing it to slide freely over the water.