UW Glaciologists, Alexander Huth and Ian Joughin,and Noel Gourmele of the University of Edinburgh used data from the European Space Agency’s CryoSat-2 to study a sudden drainage of large pools below Thwaites Glacier. Thwaites Glacier is one of two fast-moving glaciers at the edge of the West Antarctic ice sheet. The recently published study in The Cryosphere shows four interconnected lakes that drained in eight months. The glacier sped up by about 10 percent during that time, showing that the glacier’s long-term movement is fairly oblivious to trickles at its underside.