An enormous, ice-covered lake in Antarctica vanished mysteriously. A team of experts, and scientists are concerned that it could happen again. An estimated 21 billion to 26 billion cubic feet (600 million to 750 million cubic metres) of water drained into the ocean in this disappearing act. It is approximately double the volume of San Diego Bay.
According to Live Science, the event occurred on the Amery Ice Shelf in East Antarctica during the winter of 2019.
“We believe the weight of water accumulated in this deep lake opened a fissure in the ice shelf beneath the lake, a process is known as hydrofracture, causing the water to drain away to the ocean below,” said lead author Roland Warner at the University of Tasmania.
He added that once the water was released, “the flow into the ocean beneath would have been like the flow over Niagara Falls, so it would have been an impressive sight”.
When water, which is denser and heavier than ice, breaks through massive holes in ice sheets, subsequently draining into the sea, this phenomenon is known as hydrofracturing. This leaves a massive fissure that hinders the sheet’s structural integrity as a whole.
Researchers are afraid that as meltwater lakes and streams spread throughout Antarctica’s surface, more hydrofracturing events may occur. This will cause ice shelves, close to the ground, to collapse. This will make the sea levels rise rapidly than expected.
According to a study published in Journal Geophysical Research Letters :
Antarctic surface melting has been projected to double by 2050, raising concerns about the stability of other ice shelves. Processes such as hydrofracture and flexure remain understudied and ice-sheet models do not yet include realistic treatment of these processes.”
