I strongly suspect that there are more lakes awaiting discovery as our radar investigations of the ice-sheet base continue
- Julian Dowdeswell
The two lakes are each roughly 8-10 km2, and at one point may have been up to three times larger than their current size.
Subglacial lakes are likely to influence the flow of the ice sheet which, in turn, impacts global sea-level change. The discovery of the lakes in Greenland will also help researchers to understand how the ice will respond to changing environmental conditions.
The study, conducted at the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) at the University of Cambridge, used airborne radar measurements to reveal the lakes underneath the ice sheet.
“Our results show that subglacial lakes exist in Greenland, and that they form an important part of the ice sheet’s plumbing system,” said lead author Dr Steven Palmer, formerly of SPRI and now at the University of Exeter.
“Because the way in which water moves beneath ice sheets strongly affects ice flow speeds, improved understanding of these lakes will allow us to predict more accurately how the ice sheet will respond to anticipated future warming.”
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Image: Isfjord, Ilulissat, Diskobay, West Greenland
Credit: Michael Haferkamp via Wikimedia Commons
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
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