Antarctic ice shelf 'sings' as winds whip across it surface.

Ross ice shelf is Antartica's largest ice shelf. Winds blowing across snow dunes on it causing a vibration producing a near constant drumroll of seismic tones scientists could potentially use to monitor changes in the ice shelf from afar according to the new research. Ross ice shelf is Texas-sized ice plate fled from the icy continents that float atop the southern ocean. When ice shelves collapse, ice can flow faster from land into sea and it can cause rising sea levels. To analyse and understand the Ross ice shelf better, researchers buried 34 extremely sensitive seismic sensors under its snowy surface. The sensors allowed the researchers to monitor the ice shelves vibrations a study of its structure and movements for over two years.

 Ice shelves are covered in thick blankets of snow often several meters deep that are topped with massive snow dunes like sand dunes in a desert. The researchers looked closely on the data they analyzed that winds whipping across the snow duns caused the ice sheet's snow covering to rumble. They also noticed the pitch of the seismic hum changed when weather conditions altered the snow layer's surface. The hum s too low in frequency to be audible human ears but the new findings suggest scientists could use seismic stations to continuously monitor the condition on ice shelves in near real time.