Breathtaking Blue Lakes Dot The Surface Of Glacier In Greenland
Geo Beats
2015-09-14
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An image released by NASA's Landsat 8 satellite shows a series of tiny blue dots set against the stark white of a glacier in Greenland.
Dozens and dozens of tiny blue dots and filaments litter the white-drenched landscape of Greenland's ice sheet.
Just south of the Jakobshavn Glacier, they're known as supraglacial meltwater lakes. And they form every summer as sunlight penetrates and liquefies the ice and snow.
Once the melt cycle begins, it creates a positive feedback loop due to the lakes taking in ever more energy from the sun; basically more melted ice and snow means more water means larger and larger lakes.
If the lakes get large enough they can pry open fissures that essentially drill down into the glacier's bed, accelerating the speed of flowing ice for a while.
Dozens and dozens of tiny blue dots and filaments litter the white-drenched landscape of Greenland's ice sheet.
Just south of the Jakobshavn Glacier, they're known as supraglacial meltwater lakes. And they form every summer as sunlight penetrates and liquefies the ice and snow.
Once the melt cycle begins, it creates a positive feedback loop due to the lakes taking in ever more energy from the sun; basically more melted ice and snow means more water means larger and larger lakes.
If the lakes get large enough they can pry open fissures that essentially drill down into the glacier's bed, accelerating the speed of flowing ice for a while.
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