Under Greenland ’s frozen surface is a vast web of channels , crevasses , and basins — its “ glacial plumbing system . ” A few year ago , the water suddenly disappeared from a subglacial lake , which then collapsed into a amusing silhouette that NASA likens to a “ mitten , ” but I think looks more like a waving Yeti .
The subglacial lake , a pool of water beneath the ice , drained out into a nearby fiord sometime between mid - August and September of 2011 . The speed at which it empty stunned glaciologists . They recently published apaper inNaturedescribing the lake . According to NASA ’s Earth Observatory :
water system hasten from the lake at a rate of about 215 cubic meters per second and caused the ice surface to collapse , forming a 70 - meter - cryptical basin . “ This drainage event is perhaps the first tape instance of a speedy drainage of a subglacial lake in Greenland , ” say NASA glaciologist Kelly Brunt .
The lake is now lento refilling again , and this time , the strong temperatures from mood change may have something to do with it .
take more about the subglacial lake atNASA Earth Observatory .
Top image : NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon , using Landsat information from theU.S. Geological Surveyand adopt by special request with the support of Theresa Arvidson ( NASA / GSFC ) and Eugene Fosnight ( USGS / EDC ) .
earth scienceGeologyScience
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