Brief communication: Subglacial lake drainage beneath Isunguata Sermia, West Greenland: geomorphic and ice dynamic effects

• Published in: The Cryosphere
• Main Authors: S. J. Livingstone, A. J. Sole, R. D. Storrar, D. Harrison, N. Ross, J. Bowling
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2019
• Subjects: geo; envir; Greenland; glacier; The Cryosphere
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2789-2019; https://www.the-cryosphere.net/13/2789/2019/tc-13-2789-2019.pdf; https://doaj.org/article/9b5287e58f2f4fb08111ac9ecb236a77

We report three active subglacial lakes within 2 km of the lateral margin of Isunguata Sermia, West Greenland, identified by differencing time-stamped ArcticDEM strips. Each lake underwent one drainage–refill event between 2009 and 2017, with two lakes draining in < 1 month in August 2014 and August 2015. The 2015 drainage caused a ∼ 1-month down-glacier slowdown in ice flow and flooded the foreland, aggrading the proglacial channel by 8 m. The proglacial flooding confirms the ice-surface elevation anomalies as subglacial water bodies and demonstrates how their drainage can significantly modify proglacial environments. These subglacial lakes offer accessible targets for geophysical investigations and exploration.