What eventually convinced glaciologists that sub-glacial lakes were in fact relevant to their work?
About four or five years ago – again using satellite data – we determined that the surface of the ice sheet above sub-glacial lakes can go up and down as a consequence of water filling and flushing out of the lakes. All of a sudden glaciologists began to realize that sub-glacial lakes were not isolated, stagnant pools of water, but instead part of a much more dynamic sub-glacial hydrological system. And as we know from other areas of glaciology, wherever there is a base of water flowing around, there is a strong connection between the controls on the base of water and the control on ice flow. So we became interested in what sub-glacial lakes could tell us about sub-glacial hydrology, which in turn could inform us about how the ice sheet flows now, and how it has flowed in the past. Right now, it’s all coming together quite nicely, and for the first time we recognize that sub-glacial lakes are interesting from a biological perspective, from a paleo-climate perspective, and also from a g
