NASA satellites revealed 14 active water areas beneath Antarctica; one lake drained 2 cubic km in 3 years

Icebergs in Antarctica (Image Credit: Canva) Antarctica may look like a vast, frozen and unchanging landscape, but deep beneath its thick ice lies a surprisingly active world. In 2007, scientists reported findings based on measurements collected by NASA’s ICESat satellite between 2003 and 2006, revealing major changes in the surface of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and signs of water moving through hidden lakes far below. According to a study published in the journal "Science" and later explained by NASA’s Earth Observatory, researchers identified 14 areas where the ice was rising or sinking, suggesting that subglacial lakes were filling and draining. One of these hidden lakes alone released an estimated 2 cubic kilometres of water in just three years.An unexpected changeThe discovery began with Helen Amanda Fricker, a geophysicist who was studying small changes in the elevation of Antarctica's ice surface. She used data collected by NASA’s ICESat satellite, which carried a laser instrument capable of measuring subtle differences in the height of the ice. ICESat sent laser pulses towards Earth and measured how long they took to return. By repeatedly observing the same areas, scienti...