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A moulin, or
crack,
formed along
the hydrofracture
through
Greenland's
North Lake
basin
continues to
drain
meltwater to
the bed after
the 2013
North Lake
rapid
drainage.
Credit: Ian
Joughin
The 2008
research, led
by Stevens'
co-author
Sarah Das, a
WHOI
geological scientist, showed that temporary hydro-fractures could cause rapid lake
drainage on an unprecedented scale. But that research was unable to determine what
triggered the cracks in the first place. Two other, similar studies of different rapidly
draining supraglacial lakes were also unable to identify what caused the hydro-fractures.
"The coverage of GPS stations was not
dense enough," Stevens told Live Science.
"This study goes beyond previous studies on the lakes, because we have 16 GPS stations,
as opposed to one or four."
When meltwater in the summer drains to the bed from the ice surface through crevasses
or moulins, it can cause the area within and around the lake basin to be "jacked up,"
Stevens said. Additionally, it can decrease the surface area of the ice-sheet bed that's in
contact with the underlying bedrock, lubricating the bed and making it easier for the bed
to move horizontally.
Placed around North Lake, the team's 16 GPS stations recorded these two types of
movements called uplift and slip between 2011 and 2013. This provided an indepth perspective on the meltwater injected into the bed before, during and after the
yearly drainages.
"We found that before we get the main expression of the lake drainage, there is a period
of time (about six to 12 hours) where uplift and slip increase," Stevens said. "That motion
is enough to take the surface of the ice sheet and put portions of it in high tension that
allows cracks to start forming."
The study provides a clearer picture of the amount and location of the meltwater that
travels down to the ice-sheet bed, which could help scientists better understand how fast
the ice sheet flows during the summer, Stevens said.
This is important because the inland ice that moves toward the coast gets funneled to socalled outlet glaciers, which are tonguelike protrusions that can break off to form icebergs
that may drift off into the ocean and eventually melt.
"It's half of the equation of how the Greenland ice sheet contributes to sea level rise, with
the other half being the years when the ice sheet melts quicker than the snow is
deposited," Stevens said.