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\t\t\t\t\t\t30\/07\/2025<\/span> Using data from several Earth-observing satellites, including ESA\u2019s CryoSat and the Copernicus Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 missions, scientists have discovered that a huge flood beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet surged upwards with such force that it fractured the ice sheet, resulting in a vast quantity of meltwater bursting through the ice surface.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Partially funded by ESA\u2019s Earth Observation FutureEO programme, an international team of researchers, led by scientists at Lancaster University and the Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling in the UK, studied a previously undetected lake beneath the ice sheet in a remote region of northern Greenland.<\/p>\n Using 3D models of the ice sheet surface from the ArcticDEM project, alongside data from multiple satellite missions including ESA\u2019s ERS, Envisat and CryoSat, and Europe\u2019s Copernicus Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2, and NASA\u2019s ICESat-2 missions, the researchers discovered that, in 2014, this subglacial lake suddenly drained.<\/p>\n Their\u00a0research, published today in\u00a0Nature Geoscience<\/i>, reveals how, under extreme conditions, flooding from the drainage of a lake underneath the ice could force its way upwards and escape at the ice sheet surface.\u00a0<\/p>\n These new finds shed new light on the destructive potential of meltwater stored beneath the ice sheet.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Over a 10-day period in the summer of 2014, a massive crater \u2013 85 meters deep and spanning 2 square kilometres \u2013 formed on the surface of the ice sheet as 90 million cubic metres of water were suddenly released from this hidden subglacial lake.<\/p>\n This is equivalent to about nine hours’ worth of water thundering over Niagara Falls at peak flow, making it one of the largest recorded subglacial floods in Greenland.<\/p>\n While the sudden surge of meltwater was startling in itself, even more alarming was the accompanying damage \u2013 towering 25-metre-high ice blocks torn from the surface, deep fractures in the ice sheet, and the ice surface scoured by the flood\u2019s destructive force.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Jade Bowling, who led this work as part of her PhD at Lancaster University, said, \u201cWhen we first saw this, because it was so unexpected, we thought there was an issue with our data. However, as we went deeper into our analysis, it became clear that what we were observing was the aftermath of a huge flood of water escaping from underneath the ice.<\/p>\n \u201cThe existence of subglacial lakes beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet is still a relatively recent discovery, and \u2013 as our study shows \u2013 there is still much we don\u2019t know about how they evolve and how they can impact on the ice sheet system.<\/p>\n \u201cImportantly, our work demonstrates the need to better understand how often they drain, and, critically, what the consequences are for the surrounding ice sheet.\u201d<\/p>\n While it was previously believed that meltwater travels downwards from the surface of the ice sheet to its base and eventually flows into the ocean, these new findings reveal that water can also move in the opposite direction \u2013 upwards through the ice.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Even more unexpected was the discovery that the flood took place in an area where models had indicated that the ice bed was frozen. This led researchers to suggest that intense pressure caused fractures beneath and through the ice sheet, creating channels through which the water could rise.<\/p>\n Current models that predict how ice sheets will respond to climate change and increased melting do not account for these upward-flowing, fracture-driven processes.<\/p>\n Mal McMillan, Co-Director of the Centre of Excellence in Environmental Data Science at Lancaster University, and Co-Director of Science at the UK Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling, said, \u201cThis research demonstrates the unique value of long-term satellite measurements of Earth\u2019s polar ice sheets, which \u2013 due to their vast size \u2013 would otherwise be impossible to monitor.<\/p>\n \u201cSatellites represent an essential tool for monitoring the impacts of climate change, and provide critical information to build realistic models of how our planet may change in the future.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is something that all of us depend upon for building societal resilience and mitigating the impacts of climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n ESA\u2019s Diego Fernandez, Head of the Earth Observation Science Section, noted, \u201cThis discovery is remarkable, and we\u2019re proud that our Science for Society 4D Greenland project has played a key role in making it possible.<\/p>\n \u201cThe project’s goal is to deepen our understanding of the hydrology of the Greenland Ice Sheet by leveraging data from Earth observation satellites, and, in particular, to shed light on how the ice sheet is responding to climate change.<\/p>\n \u201cThis result adds to the body of knowledge we are establishing through the ESA Polar Science Cluster on how the Arctic is changing in response to increased warming. Gaining insight into its hydrology is crucial for understanding these changes \u2013 and for predicting how the ice sheet will contribute to global sea-level rise in a warming climate.<\/p>\n \u201cWe congratulate the research team on advancing our understanding of this vulnerable region.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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