Large subglacial lakes in East Antarctica at the onset of fast-flowing ice streams

Robin E. Bell (), Michael Studinger, Christopher A. Shuman, Mark A. Fahnestock and Ian Joughin
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Robin E. Bell: Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, New York 10964-8000, USA
Michael Studinger: Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, New York 10964-8000, USA
Christopher A. Shuman: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
Mark A. Fahnestock: Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire 03824, USA
Ian Joughin: Applied Physics Lab, University of Washington, 1013 NE 40th Street, Seattle, Washington 98105-6698, USA

Nature, 2007, vol. 445, issue 7130, 904-907

Abstract: Subglacial lakes revealed Water has been found to gather in lakes underneath the Antarctic ice sheet, and it can move between lakes and drain catastrophically. Despite this, relatively little is known about how subglacial lakes influence ice sheet dynamics. Now satellite imagery has identified four subglacial lakes, similar in total area to Lake Vostok, right at the onset of the Recovery Glacier ice stream in East Antarctica. This suggests that subglacial lakes may initiate and maintain rapid ice flow, a mechanism that will need to be considered in future ice sheet mass balance assessments.

Date: 2007
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DOI: 10.1038/nature05554

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