Descr: We are proposing a new research project using field work and remote sensing to investigate the role of Greenland’s supraglacial lakes in delivering melt water to the ice sheet’s bed and in modulating ice flow on short time scales. Recent results demonstrate a correlation between ice velocity and surface melt draining through moulins to the bed, which may provide a mechanism for rapid response of the Greenland Ice Sheet to climate change. Supraglacial lakes are one of the critical links between surface melting and enhanced basal flow, have the potential to rapidly respond to future climate change, and are the focus of the research project described here.
