The 1,000-mile-long Black River flows under Greenland Bay

Previously, airplanes had mapped part of the rock valley, underground under the ice, but their radar was not yet covered, Christopher Chambers, a researcher at Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan. Version said.

In order to build a clearer picture of what is hidden beneath the surface of Greenland , Chambers and his colleagues created simulations to explore the valley at different depths and water patterns. can melt from glacial surfaces down to a depth below - perhaps create a flowing river, Chambers told Live Science. He presented the findings on December 9 at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU).

The model on the right shows the water north of Greenland with the presence of a valley stretching below the glaciers.

Radar maps show the valley floor at 980 feet and 1,640 feet (300 meters and 500 meters) below the surface, Chambers said. This is so unusual that this could be "a point of erosion or deposition of sediment, like a river," he explained.

First, the researchers digitally modeled the valley and removed the missing data blocks. When there was an open valley, they introduced it into Greenland simulation and the melting water from the glacier began to redistribute underground, flowing along the valley. In the simulations, the scientists also combined a known hot spot deep inland of Greenland and they found that the hot spot produced enough water to flow along the valley all the way from the center of Greenland. north coast.

The hidden river can range from 330 feet to 980 feet (100 meters to 300 meters) below the icy surface of Greenland.

Because this river would be run in the dark for hundreds of miles under the ice, the researchers named it the "Black River" they wrote in a summary of studies. The Black River does not have strong or continuous currents, because the glaciers melt over a large area, Chambers said. The river can sometimes be quite strong "but only in certain times" , when large melting reservoirs accumulate and then flow into the valley, he added.

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