A paper, recently published in Nature Communications, reveals that a major subglacial lake drainage event beneath Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier in 2013 temporarily doubled the rate of ocean-driven melting beneath its ice shelf. The sudden release of over 7 km³ of freshwater formed a buoyant plume that intensified the melting effect of warm, deep ocean water.
While such bursts may accelerate ice thinning and grounding line retreat, steady, sustained subglacial water flow could have an even greater long-term impact on melting. The study underscores uncertainty over whether these subglacial flooding events help stabilize or destabilize West Antarctica’s ice sheet.
This research, relying on surface elevation data acquired by ESA Cryosat-2 for detection of active subglacial lakes and quantifying ice shelf basal melt rates, was an outcome of the 4D Antarctica project.
Read the full story on ESA EO pages.