Lake on glacier blasts cracks in Greenland’s ice
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Lake on glacier blasts cracks in Greenland’s ice
A lake of meltwater has blasted deep cracks into the Greenland ice. The 79°N glacier is showing the first signs of becoming more unstable. Radar images show that a bubble has apparently formed on this lake under the ice, which is pushing the glacier upwards at this point. Whether the glacier will ever return to its former state is unclear. The scientists observed seven such drainages, four of them in the past five years. The lake is now around 21 square kilometers in size.
Suddenly, water breaks through – leaving meter-wide channels in the ice: a study shows the effects of the phenomenon on a Greenland glacier.
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No time? blue News summarizes for you A meltwater lake up to 21 square kilometers in size forms on a Greenland glacier.
A study has now shown that the water flows out seasonally and makes the glacier more unstable. Show more
According to a study, a lake of meltwater has blasted deep cracks into the Greenland ice. According to the research team from the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) in Bremerhaven, run-off water is lifting a glacier. The 79°N glacier is showing the first signs of becoming more unstable.
According to the scientists, Greenland’s ice has been receding since the mid-1990s, with only three floating tongues remaining. One of these is the 79°N glacier. More and more meltwater is collecting on the surface of the 79°N glacier. This resulted in a lake that is now around 21 square kilometers in size.
Water from the lake repeatedly broke through the ice and flowed out through cracks and shafts, according to the research team. As a result, massive amounts of water reached the edge of the glacier tongue and flowed into the ocean. The scientists observed seven such drainages, four of them in the past five years.
Glacier threatens to become more unstable
According to the AWI, particularly conspicuous triangular fracture fields have been forming in the ice since 2019, which remain visible for years. Some cracks form channels with openings several dozen meters wide, through which the water reaches the base of the ice sheet.
The lake on the glacier at its greatest extent and after the subsequent seasonal run-off. Copernicus/Angelika Humbert et al.
Although the cracks and channels change inside the ice, they remain for a long time. Whether the glacier will ever return to its former state is unclear.
The research team found that water reached under the glacier through the cracks. There, the water accumulated to form an underground lake. Radar images show that a bubble has apparently formed on this lake under the ice, which is pushing the glacier upwards at this point.
Source: https://www.bluewin.ch/en/news/lake-on-glacier-blasts-cracks-in-greenlands-ice-2828490.html