Global glacier-free topography reveals a large potential for future lakes in presently ice-covered terrain
T. Frank, W. J. J. van Pelt, D. R. Rounce, G. Jouvet, R. Hock · 2026
Read Global glacier-free topography reveals a large potential for future lakes in presently ice-covered terrain by T. Frank, W. J. J. van Pelt, D. R. Rounce, G. Jouvet, R. Hock (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13135513.txt.
Description
Frank and co-authors chart the ground hidden under the world's glaciers, and count the lakes waiting to form there. As ice retreats, meltwater fills deep hollows carved by the ice itself. Using a physics-based ice model checked against large observation sets, the team mapped the buried terrain under every glacier outside the great ice sheets.
The map reveals more than 50,000 possible future lakes, holding up to 3,138 cubic kilometers of water. The team also pegs total glacier volume at about 149,000 cubic kilometers. Deep basins near glacier fronts in High Mountain Asia flag a flood risk: sudden lake outbursts. The data should sharpen forecasts of glacier change and of the landscapes ice leaves behind.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | T. Frank, W. J. J. van Pelt, D. R. Rounce, G. Jouvet, R. Hock |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 57 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |