Université de Fribourg

A large impact crater beneath Hiawatha Glacier in northwest Greenland

Kjær, Kurt H. ; Larsen, Nicolaj K. ; Binder, Tobias ; Bjørk, Anders A. ; Eisen, Olaf ; Fahnestock, Mark A. ; Funder, Svend ; Garde, Adam A. ; Haack, Henning ; Helm, Veit ; Houmark-Nielsen, Michael ; Kjeldsen, Kristian K. ; Khan, Shfaqat A. ; Machguth, Horst ; McDonald, Iain ; Morlighem, Mathieu ; Mouginot, Jérémie ; Paden, John D. ; Waight, Tod E. ; Weikusat, Christian ; Willerslev, Eske ; MacGregor, Joseph A.

In: Science Advances, 2018, vol. 4, no. 11, p. eaar8173

We report the discovery of a large impact crater beneath Hiawatha Glacier in northwest Greenland. From airborne radar surveys, we identify a 31-kilometer-wide, circular bedrock depression beneath up to a kilometer of ice. This depression has an elevated rim that cross-cuts tributary subglacial channels and a subdued central uplift that appears to be actively eroding. From ground...