Brief communication: Sudden drainage of a subglacial lake beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet

I. M. Howat, C. Porter, M. J. Noh, B. E. Smith, S. Jeong

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

28 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report on the appearance of a 2 km wide, 70 m deep circular depression located 50 km inland of the southwestern margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet that provides the first direct evidence for concentrated, long-term storage, and sudden release, of meltwater at the bed. Drainage of the lake may have been triggered by the recent increase in meltwater runoff. The abundance of such lakes and their potential importance to the ice sheet's hydrologic system and flow regime remain unknown.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)103-108
Number of pages6
JournalCryosphere
Volume9
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 15 2015

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© Author(s) 2015.

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