Researchers have created the first map of a network of subglacial lakes in the Canadian Arctic showing 33 bodies of water under glaciers.
Using a decade of ArcticDEM satellite data of the Earth’s surface height, a team of researchers including the University of Waterloo developed a method that allowed them to track the draining and filling of active subglacial lakes in unprecedented detail.
Until now, scientists knew little about these bodies of water. The discovery helps scientists better understand this rapidly melting region, which is one of the main contributors to the loss of the world’s glaciers.
“Now we can further characterize the way the Arctic environment is changing, which can be an indication of climate change impacts on the region,” said Dr. Wesley Van Wychen, a professor in the Faculty of Environment at Waterloo. “Changes in water storage are important in terms of understanding how the speed of glaciers may change. By measuring the draining and filling of these lakes and determining how quickly this process could happen is another way that we can characterize the impacts of climate change on the Arctic environment.”
In addition to the classic subglacial lake, which is confined below a single glacier, the researchers noticed and catalogued two other types of subglacial lakes for the first time. Terminal subglacial lakes were found where two glaciers converge. They found partial subglacial lakes beside open water.
“What's important about creating this kind of classification system is that the glacier flow speed will be impacted differently depending on what type of lake it is,” said Dr. Whyjay Zheng, a professor at the National Centre University in Taiwan and first author of the paper. “Whenever you have a body of water underneath a glacier, that water can act as lubrication between the glacier and its bed, allowing the glacier to move faster.”
Further research will attempt to confirm the stability of these lakes and to try to determine where the water goes during drainage events and if there is an impact on glacier flow
Researchers from the University of Bristol and the Remote Sensing Technology Centre of Japan also contributed to this work. The study Active subglacial lakes in the Canadian Arctic identified by multi-annual ice elevation changes appears in EGUsphere .
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Active subglacial lakes in the Canadian Arctic identified by multi-annual ice elevation changes
23-Mar-2026