New Lakes Discovered Under Greenland's Ice Hint at Warming
The discovery of two large lakes hidden beneath Greenland's ice suggests that climate change now cuts all the way to the bottom of the ice sheet, according to two new studies.
The lakes, on opposite coasts, were only spotted because meltwater from Greenland's surface triggered gushing floods in the fall of 2011. Billions of gallons of water had flushed some 30 miles (50 kilometers) to the sea, leaving behind sunken craters in the surface of the ice above the lakes. Researchers found the fractured ice in high-resolution satellite images and then identified each lake, according to reports published today (Jan. 21) in the journals Nature and The Cryosphere.
The discovery of these lakes will help scientists better understand how Greenland's surface meltwater travels through the ice sheet. And because the water beneath ice sheets can lubricate the movement of glaciers, these newly found lakes and floods may help researchers more accurately forecast how Greenland's ice sheet will respond to future warming. [Image Gallery: Greenland's Melting Glaciers]
http://www.livescience.com/49519-greenland-new-subglacial-lakes-found.html