New Study Mapping Active Subglacial Lakes in Antarctica
03.09.2009 - Other
Some very dynamic processes take place inside the Antarctic Ice Sheet. A study published in the Journal of Glaciology by Benjamin Smith of the University of Washington examined what goes on in sub-glacial lakes. Using lasers from a NASA satellite to map the lakes, Dr. Smith was able to prove that the sub-glacial lakes in the Antarctic Ice sheet are indeed quite dynamic.
Following up on research conducted in 2006 by Helen Fricker, a geophysicist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Dr. Smith and his colleagues expanded the survey to include most of the Antarctic continent. The results confirmed that 200 of the 280 inventoried lakes are active, and an additional 124 subglacial lakes were discovered in the coastal regions. Glacial lakes in coastal areas are important to study because they are located in a place where the ice is moving fast and therefore may contribute to a sea level rise.
The location of these newly-discovered lakes further highlights the importance of understanding the underlying mechanisms of the subglacial lake network in Antarctica. The rate at which they drain and fill varies; however some subglacial lakes could function as a lubricant and therefore considerably speed up ice flow towards the oceans, another way they could possibly contribute to sea level rise.
