Lakes Discovered Beneath Greenland Ice Sheet

A study published on November 27th 2013 in the Geophysical Research Letter has recently discovered 2 subglacial lakes under the Greenland Ice Sheet.  These two lakes are 800 meters beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet.  They are also each approximately 8-10 kilometers and are said to have been triple their current size in past years.  Subglacial Lakes are highly favorable to influence the movement of ice sheets, having an impact on global sea level change.

This study was conducted at the Scott Polar Research Institute(SPRI) at the University of Cambridge which is located in the United Kingdom.  They used airborne radar measurements to reveal the lakes underneath this great ice sheet.  The lead author, Dr. Steven Palmer who was formerly of SPRI, and currently at the University of Exeter (which is also in the United Kingdom) said, ""Our results show that subglacial lakes exist in Greenland, and that they form an important part of the ice sheet's plumbing system.  Because the way in which water moves beneath ice sheets strongly affects ice flow speeds, improved understanding of these lakes will allow us to predict more accurately how the ice sheet will respond to anticipated future warning.""

These lakes are different than those detected under the Antarctic Ice sheets, hinting that these lakes may have formed in a different manner.  the researchers hypothesize that the recently discovered lakes are most likely fed by melting surface water dripping through the cracks in ice.  A surface lake settled nearby might also relinquish the subglacial lakes throughout warm summers.  This means that these lakes under the Greenland Ice Sheet a part of an open system and are connected to the surface, which is unlike the Antarctic lakes that are usually isolated ecosystems.

website: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131127130929.htmpicture: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Greenland-ice_sheet_hg.jpg

Vast Freshwater Reserves Found Beneath the Oceans

Scientists have discovered massive amounts reserves of freshwater below the depths of the oceans.  This provides new opportunities fight off the reoccurring worldwide crisis.  A very recent study that was published December 5th in the international scientific journal nature, reveals that about 500,000 cubic kilometers of fresh water is buried deep below the seabed on continental shelves worldwide.
The water, which could possibly be used to eke out supplies throughout the world's burgeoning  coastal areas, which has been located off of Australia, China, South Africa, and North America.""The volume of this water resource is a hundred times greater than the amount we've extracted from the Earth's sub-surface in the past century since 1900,"" says lead author Dr Vincent Post (pictured) of the National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training (NCGRT) and the School of the Environment at Flinders University.These reserves have been forming over the past hundreds and thousands of years when on average the sea level was a lot lower than it is today, and when the coastline was also further out, Dr Post explains."So when it rained, the water would infiltrate into the ground and fill up the water table in areas that are nowadays under the sea."It happened all around the world, and when the sea level rose when ice caps started melting some 20,000 years ago, these areas were covered by the ocean.""

website:http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131208085304.htm
picture:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131208085304.htm