Using NASA’s Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation satellite, researchers led by Benjamin Smith, a glaciologist from the University of Washington in Seattle, analysed ice elevation data collected over a five-year period, and were able to confirm the location of 15 known lakes and discover 109 additional lakes, many of which are interconnected.

The meltwater contained under the White Continent’s ice is continuously moved around in a broad, thin layer that links to other lakes through a complicated cavity network. Understanding this network is important, said the paper, as it can lubricate glacier flow and send the ice speeding toward the ocean, where it can melt and contribute to sea-level change.
 
‘We’ve shown that there are many active lakes that are in a position where they might influence the speed of outlet glaciers and the rate at which glacial ice flows into the ocean,’ said Smith. ‘Water acts like a lubricant beneath glaciers, so if lakes discharge water under an outlet glacier, we would expect it to flow faster.’

November 2009