A paper published in Geophysical Research Letters describes how a decade of radar altimetry observation have been used to reveal a network of four subglacial lakes, under the Thwaites glacier in Antarctica. Using more than 10 years’ worth of altimetry data from ESA’s CryoSat satellite, scientists discovered that the lakes beneath Thwaites, the largest of which is over 40 km long, drained in quick succession, in 2013 and then in 2017. This kind of reoccurring drainage under Thwaites has never before been recorded. Scientists estimate that the rate of drainage peaked at about 500 cubic metres a second – possibly the largest outflow of meltwater ever reported from subglacial lakes in this region.

Read full story: CryoSat reveals surprising ebb and flow of subglacial lakes