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Arctic Outlet

Photographer Chris Linder explores an outlet portal from the base of Greenland’s Leverette Glacier. The water flowing in the stream comes from melting on and in the glacier, which drains through cracks in the ice, often as far as the base of the glacier. The meltwater then forces its way through  channels under the ice as it seeks its way downhill. During the warmest part of the day in late spring, summer, and early fall, the built-up water pressure can actually lift the ice, moving the glacier downhill. Graduate student Ben Linhoff is writing about portals, meltwater, and more for Scientific American during his summer-long field expedition in Greenland.(Photo by Ben Linhoff, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)