S. B. Das et al., Science 320 (2008), Fracture propagation to the base of the Greenland Ice Sheet during supraglacial lake drainage

Science (9 May 2008), Vol. 320, No. 5877, pp. 778-781; DOI: 10.1126/science.1153360

Fracture propagation to the base of the Greenland Ice Sheet during supraglacial lake drainage

Sarah B. Das,^1* Ian Joughin,² Mark D. Behn,¹ Ian M. Howat,^2,3 Matt A. King,⁴ Dan Lizarralde,¹ and Maya P. Bhatia⁵

 

Abstract

 

Surface meltwater that reaches the base of an ice sheet creates a mechanism for the rapid response of ice flow to climate change. The process whereby such a pathway is created through thick, cold ice has not, however, been previously observed. We describe the rapid (<2 hours) drainage of a large supraglacial lake down 980 meters through to the bed of the Greenland Ice Sheet initiated by water-driven fracture propagation evolving into moulin flow. Drainage coincided with increased seismicity, transient acceleration, ice-sheet uplift, and horizontal displacement. Subsidence and deceleration occurred over the subsequent 24 hours. The short-lived dynamic response suggests that an efficient drainage system dispersed the meltwater subglacially. The integrated effect of multiple lake drainages could explain the observed net regional summer ice speedup.

 

¹ Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
² Polar Science Center, Applied Physics Lab, University of Washington, 1013 NE 40th Street, Seattle, WA 98105–6698, USA.
³ School of Earth Sciences and Byrd Polar Research Center, The Ohio State University, 1090 Carmack Road, Columbus, OH 43210–1002, USA.
⁴ School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK.
⁵ Department of Geology and Geophysics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.

^*Correspondence e-mail: sdas@whoi.edu

Link to abstract:  http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/320/5877/778