New 3D View of Greenland Ice Sheet Reveals Climate History (VIDEO)

Scientists are learning a bit more about Greenland's ice sheet with the help of some new technology. They've used ice-penetrating radar data collected by NASA's Operation IceBridge to build the first ever comprehensive map of layers deep inside the Greenland Ice Sheet.

The new map allows scientists to determine the age of the large swathes of the second largest mass of ice on Earth. The ice sheet itself holds a staggering amount of water-enough to raise ocean levels by about 20 feet.

"This new, huge data volume records how the ice sheet evolved and how it's flowing today," said Joe MacGregor, the lead author of the new study, in a news release.

For the past two decades, Greenland's ice sheet has steadily been losing mass. By understanding the past of the ice sheet during different climate periods, researchers can potentially better understand how the ice sheet might respond in the future.

Although ice cores offer a way to study the distant past, ice-penetrating radar works similarly to study the history of ice sheets. Radar signals are sent through the ice and recorded. These signals allow scientists to detect the ice surface, sub-ice bedrock and layers within the ice itself.

"IceBridge surveyed previously unexplored parts of the Greenland Ice Sheet and did it using state-of-the-art CReSIS radars," said Mark Fahnestock, one of the researchers, in a news release.

Comparing age volume to simple computer models allowed the researchers to better understand the history of the ice sheet. Differences in the mapped and modeled age volumes point to past changes in ice flow or processes such as melting at the ice sheet's base. This information will be helpful for evaluating the more sophisticated ice sheet models that are crucial for projecting Greenland's future contribution to sea-level rise.

The findings are published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface.

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