Scientists were caught by surprise after discovering a massive flood of subglacial lakewater had burst through Greenland's ice sheet.

Downstream from the crater left behind by the drainage, researchers identified an odd region of disrupted ice. Though the ice in that area had previously been pristine, giant cracks and uprooted ice chunks suddenly covered four million square feet, and the surrounding 2.3 square miles of ice showed clear traces of flowing water.

A hidden lake beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet unexpectedly drained more than a decade ago, fracturing the ice surface and forming a large crater — an event only recently uncovered by Earth-observing satellites.

A violent subglacial flood in Greenland ruptured the ice from below—forcing scientists to rethink ice sheet behavior.

A subglacial flood in Greenland burst upward through tens of meters of ice, pushing up blocks the size of five-story buildings and scouring clear an area nearly twice the size of Central Park in New York City,

A huge flood triggered by the rapid draining of a lake beneath the Greenland ice sheet occurred with such force that it fractured the ice above and burst out across its surface.