New Aquifer In The Greenland Ice Sheet Discovered
Sunday, December 22, 2013 - 18:10
in Earth & Climate
A new aquifer in the Greenland Ice Sheet holds liquid water all year long in the otherwise perpetually frozen winter landscape. And it's big - 27,000 square miles. The reservoir is a "perennial firn aquifer" because water persists within the firn; layers of snow and ice that don't melt for at least one season. Researchers believe it figures significantly in understanding the contribution of snowmelt and ice melt to sea levels. The Greenland Ice Sheet is vast, covering roughly the same area as the states of California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah combined. The average thickness of the ice is 5,000 feet. read more