Widespread and rapid dynamics of subglacial water in the Canadian Arctic

Widespread and rapid dynamics of subglacial water in the Canadian Arctic | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Widespread and rapid dynamics of subglacial water in the Canadian Arctic Whyjay Zheng, Wesley Van Wychen, Tian Li This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5052056/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Active subglacial water influences ice flow dynamics and glacier mass balance, but direct observations are scarce due to the inaccessibility of fieldwork. Here, we stack the ArcticDEM strip elevations and produce the first-ever subglacial water inventory that covers almost the entire Canadian Arctic, a vast region without many existing records of these events. This new inventory identifies 37 active water bodies beneath glacier ice, which consist of three types: classic subglacial lakes, terminus subglacial lakes at the glacier convergence zone, and ice-marginal lakes extending beneath the ice. Over 80% of the lakes had at least one rapid hydrological event between 2011 and 2021, with the most significant one draining over 4 Gt in 2020 and decreasing the ice surface elevation by 148 meters. Our findings suggest subglacial draining needs to be considered while assessing past and future glacier mass balance, and the new inventory will help improve our understanding of subglacial hydrology mechanisms across the Arctic under global warming. Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Cryospheric science Earth and environmental sciences/Hydrology Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files achydro942.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5052056","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":352445143,"identity":"8f61d216-b1a8-4d6a-8fc8-8eac5cb810c3","order_by":0,"name":"Whyjay Zheng","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA5UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACCQYGA4YKFKEEYrScQddygIAWBsY2UrQY3O4xKPw5z87evP/sA+aCmsMM/Ow5Bswf2/BouXPGwEByW3LinBvpBswzjh1mkOx5Y8BwEI8Wsxs5BgaG2w4kSEiwMTDzNhxmMACKMBzcRkBL4pwD9hL8xyBa7InScrDhAOMMhjSoLRIEtNjfSCswbDiWnDhDIo3hMM+xdB6JM88KDpz9h1uL5IzkbYY/auxADmN8zFNjLcffnrzxQcUZ3FoYGDjMDGDMA0DMA2PgAeyPH+BXMApGwSgYBSMeAABVL087wMQyOwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2316-2614","institution":"National Central University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Whyjay","middleName":"","lastName":"Zheng","suffix":""},{"id":352445144,"identity":"7d087ad9-1f86-4d01-9121-cd0af18ac3ae","order_by":1,"name":"Wesley Van Wychen","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4275-6768","institution":"University of Waterloo","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Wesley","middleName":"Van","lastName":"Wychen","suffix":""},{"id":352445145,"identity":"fecde1b6-7c7d-40af-90a8-7f05e656b906","order_by":2,"name":"Tian Li","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1577-4004","institution":"University of Bristol","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tian","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-09-08 09:50:10","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5052056/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5052056/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":72973225,"identity":"03aa8b5e-20cf-4180-b578-52af1e2ef3ed","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-01-04 18:43:26","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":3883449,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ArcticCanadasubglaciallakeinventoryMSNatComms.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5052056/v1_covered_d73bd0a5-0e9b-490e-bedb-f35e57512861.pdf"},{"id":65277793,"identity":"0181c01e-720b-44c2-b43b-0c720049d7ea","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-09-25 14:21:59","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":8729745,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"achydro942.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5052056/v1/ab4db8c7df89cf7140ece5ad.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Widespread and rapid dynamics of subglacial water in the Canadian Arctic","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5052056/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5052056/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Active subglacial water influences ice flow dynamics and glacier mass balance, but direct observations are scarce due to the inaccessibility of fieldwork. 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