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A colossal flood may just have happened underneath Antarctica when a buried lake melted, giving way to a giant flood that emptied into the sea.
The buried lake is believed to have suddenly over-topped. A deep void has formed over the once occult lake. A 2.7 km thick ice drop is now in the crater is now left where the ice melted.
The hidden lake is in the Cook Sub Glacial Lake in the eastern part of the frozen continent. The event seems to have taken place during a months long period between 2007 and 2008.
An American satellite first detected the drastic change in the ice surface ice through an altimeter attached to the satellite.
The area of the crater is about 260 square km, and is about 70 meters deep.
The volume of crater was calculated by measuring the geometry of the crater.
The volume of water is comparable to that contained in the Loch Ness basin.
Antarctica is shown to lose about 50-100 billion tonnes of water a year through melting and scientists believe that most of it is due to events such as the one observed of hidden lakes.
There are about 400 sub glacial lakes in Antarctica. Many of them are believed to be emptying each year due to sudden or not so sudden melts.
Source : BBC / 7.2.13
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