Subglacial lakes and their changing role in a warming climate
Subglacial lakes are repositories of ancient climate conditions, provide habitats for life and modulate ice flow, basal hydrology, biogeochemical fluxes and geomorphic activity. In this Review, we construct the first global inventory of subglacial lakes (773 in total), which includes 675 from Antarc...
Published in: | Nature Reviews Earth & Environment |
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ftimperialcol:oai:spiral.imperial.ac.uk:10044/1/93683 2023-05-15T13:43:46+02:00 Subglacial lakes and their changing role in a warming climate Livingstone, SJ Li, Y Rutishauser, A Sanderson, RJ Winter, K Mikucki, JA Bjornsson, H Bowling, JS Chu, W Dow, CF Fricker, HA McMillan, M Ng, FSL Ross, N Siegert, MJ Siegfried, M Sole, AJ Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) British Council (UK) 2021-11-08 http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/93683 https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-021-00246-9 English eng Nature Research Nature Reviews Earth & Environment 2662-138X http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/93683 doi:10.1038/s43017-021-00246-9 NE/G00465X/3 NE/K004956/2 GEOG.RE2356 ICECAP-2 © 2022 Springer-Verlag. The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-021-00246-9 124 106 Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Physical Sciences Environmental Sciences Geosciences Multidisciplinary Environmental Sciences & Ecology Geology GREENLAND ICE-SHEET BENEATH THWAITES GLACIER DIGITAL ELEVATION MODELS NOVEMBER 1996 JOKULHLAUP FRESH-WATER DISCHARGE SEA-LEVEL RISE WEST ANTARCTICA OUTBURST FLOODS MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES SEISMIC OBSERVATIONS KENNICOTT GLACIER Journal Article 2021 ftimperialcol https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-021-00246-9 2022-07-07T22:41:15Z Subglacial lakes are repositories of ancient climate conditions, provide habitats for life and modulate ice flow, basal hydrology, biogeochemical fluxes and geomorphic activity. In this Review, we construct the first global inventory of subglacial lakes (773 in total), which includes 675 from Antarctica (59 newly identified), 64 from Greenland, 2 beneath the Devon Ice Cap, 6 beneath Iceland’s ice caps and 26 from valley glaciers. This inventory is used to evaluate subglacial lake environments, dynamics and their wider impact on ice flow and sediment transport. The behaviour of these lakes is conditioned by their subglacial setting and the hydrological, dynamic and mass balance regime of the overlying ice mass. Regions where climate warming causes ice surface steepening are predicted to have fewer and smaller lakes, but increased activity with higher discharge drainages of shorter duration. Coupling to surface melt and rainfall inputs will modulate fill–drain cycles and seasonally enhance oxic processes. Higher discharges cause large, transient ice flow accelerations but might result in overall net slowdown owing to the development of efficient subglacial drainage. Subglacial lake research requires new drilling technologies and the integration of geophysics, satellite monitoring and numerical modelling to provide insight into the wider role of subglacial lakes in the changing Earth system. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica glacier Greenland Ice cap Ice Sheet Thwaites Glacier West Antarctica Imperial College London: Spiral Devon Ice Cap ENVELOPE(-82.499,-82.499,75.335,75.335) Greenland Thwaites Glacier ENVELOPE(-106.750,-106.750,-75.500,-75.500) West Antarctica Nature Reviews Earth & Environment 3 2 106 124 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Imperial College London: Spiral |
op_collection_id |
ftimperialcol |
language |
English |
topic |
Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Physical Sciences Environmental Sciences Geosciences Multidisciplinary Environmental Sciences & Ecology Geology GREENLAND ICE-SHEET BENEATH THWAITES GLACIER DIGITAL ELEVATION MODELS NOVEMBER 1996 JOKULHLAUP FRESH-WATER DISCHARGE SEA-LEVEL RISE WEST ANTARCTICA OUTBURST FLOODS MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES SEISMIC OBSERVATIONS KENNICOTT GLACIER |
spellingShingle |
Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Physical Sciences Environmental Sciences Geosciences Multidisciplinary Environmental Sciences & Ecology Geology GREENLAND ICE-SHEET BENEATH THWAITES GLACIER DIGITAL ELEVATION MODELS NOVEMBER 1996 JOKULHLAUP FRESH-WATER DISCHARGE SEA-LEVEL RISE WEST ANTARCTICA OUTBURST FLOODS MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES SEISMIC OBSERVATIONS KENNICOTT GLACIER Livingstone, SJ Li, Y Rutishauser, A Sanderson, RJ Winter, K Mikucki, JA Bjornsson, H Bowling, JS Chu, W Dow, CF Fricker, HA McMillan, M Ng, FSL Ross, N Siegert, MJ Siegfried, M Sole, AJ Subglacial lakes and their changing role in a warming climate |
topic_facet |
Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Physical Sciences Environmental Sciences Geosciences Multidisciplinary Environmental Sciences & Ecology Geology GREENLAND ICE-SHEET BENEATH THWAITES GLACIER DIGITAL ELEVATION MODELS NOVEMBER 1996 JOKULHLAUP FRESH-WATER DISCHARGE SEA-LEVEL RISE WEST ANTARCTICA OUTBURST FLOODS MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES SEISMIC OBSERVATIONS KENNICOTT GLACIER |
description |
Subglacial lakes are repositories of ancient climate conditions, provide habitats for life and modulate ice flow, basal hydrology, biogeochemical fluxes and geomorphic activity. In this Review, we construct the first global inventory of subglacial lakes (773 in total), which includes 675 from Antarctica (59 newly identified), 64 from Greenland, 2 beneath the Devon Ice Cap, 6 beneath Iceland’s ice caps and 26 from valley glaciers. This inventory is used to evaluate subglacial lake environments, dynamics and their wider impact on ice flow and sediment transport. The behaviour of these lakes is conditioned by their subglacial setting and the hydrological, dynamic and mass balance regime of the overlying ice mass. Regions where climate warming causes ice surface steepening are predicted to have fewer and smaller lakes, but increased activity with higher discharge drainages of shorter duration. Coupling to surface melt and rainfall inputs will modulate fill–drain cycles and seasonally enhance oxic processes. Higher discharges cause large, transient ice flow accelerations but might result in overall net slowdown owing to the development of efficient subglacial drainage. Subglacial lake research requires new drilling technologies and the integration of geophysics, satellite monitoring and numerical modelling to provide insight into the wider role of subglacial lakes in the changing Earth system. |
author2 |
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) British Council (UK) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Livingstone, SJ Li, Y Rutishauser, A Sanderson, RJ Winter, K Mikucki, JA Bjornsson, H Bowling, JS Chu, W Dow, CF Fricker, HA McMillan, M Ng, FSL Ross, N Siegert, MJ Siegfried, M Sole, AJ |
author_facet |
Livingstone, SJ Li, Y Rutishauser, A Sanderson, RJ Winter, K Mikucki, JA Bjornsson, H Bowling, JS Chu, W Dow, CF Fricker, HA McMillan, M Ng, FSL Ross, N Siegert, MJ Siegfried, M Sole, AJ |
author_sort |
Livingstone, SJ |
title |
Subglacial lakes and their changing role in a warming climate |
title_short |
Subglacial lakes and their changing role in a warming climate |
title_full |
Subglacial lakes and their changing role in a warming climate |
title_fullStr |
Subglacial lakes and their changing role in a warming climate |
title_full_unstemmed |
Subglacial lakes and their changing role in a warming climate |
title_sort |
subglacial lakes and their changing role in a warming climate |
publisher |
Nature Research |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/93683 https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-021-00246-9 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-82.499,-82.499,75.335,75.335) ENVELOPE(-106.750,-106.750,-75.500,-75.500) |
geographic |
Devon Ice Cap Greenland Thwaites Glacier West Antarctica |
geographic_facet |
Devon Ice Cap Greenland Thwaites Glacier West Antarctica |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica glacier Greenland Ice cap Ice Sheet Thwaites Glacier West Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica glacier Greenland Ice cap Ice Sheet Thwaites Glacier West Antarctica |
op_source |
124 106 |
op_relation |
Nature Reviews Earth & Environment 2662-138X http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/93683 doi:10.1038/s43017-021-00246-9 NE/G00465X/3 NE/K004956/2 GEOG.RE2356 ICECAP-2 |
op_rights |
© 2022 Springer-Verlag. The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-021-00246-9 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-021-00246-9 |
container_title |
Nature Reviews Earth & Environment |
container_volume |
3 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
106 |
op_container_end_page |
124 |
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1766193012170293248 |