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
journal of applied polymer science2015Vol. 9pp. 103-108
130
howat2015thebrief
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.