Supraglacial Lake of the Greenland Ice Sheet (IMAGE)

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Supraglacial Lake of the Greenland Ice Sheet

Caption

Thousands of supraglacial lakes form each spring and summer on top of the Greenland Ice Sheet. When they drain, they send torrents of water to the base of the ice sheet, lubricating the interface between rock and ice. That allows the ice sheet to flow faster to the ocean and discharge ice into ocean, which causes sea levels to rise faster

Credit

Photo by Laura Stevens, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

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