Using satellite and field work after an extreme melt event in Greenland, a UCLA-led study finds that melt-prone areas on its ice sheet develop a remarkably efficient drainage system of stunning blue streams and rivers that carry meltwater into moulins (sinkholes) and ultimately the ocean.

However, the team’s measurements at the ice’s edge show that climate models alone can overestimate the volume of meltwater flowing to the ocean because they fail to account for water storage beneath the ice.

• Press release
• The research, published in the latest issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.