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 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.

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,