Grand Canyon (Greenland)

Animation of the canyon

Greenland's Grand Canyon, also known as the Grand Canyon of Greenland and dubbed the Mega Canyon by some media outlets, is a canyon of record length that was discovered underneath the Greenland ice sheet, according to an announcement in August 2013.

Ice-penetrating radar data collected during NASA's Operation IceBridge showed a huge subglacial canyon running from the central region of the island northward into the Arctic Ocean, to the fjord of the Petermann Glacier. The canyon is likely to have influenced basal water flow from the ice sheet interior to the margin. Jonathan Bamber, a geographer at University of Bristol, stated, "The distinctive V-shaped walls and flat bottom suggests water carved the buried valley, not ice."

The canyon is more than 750 kilometres (466 mi) long, up to 800 metres (2,600 ft) deep and 10 kilometres (6 mi) wide, making it the longest canyon discovered on the Earth to date. There are, however, many canyons — including Arizona's Grand Canyon itself — which are deeper.

The canyon predates ice sheet inception and has influenced basal hydrology in Greenland over past glacial cycles. It is estimated to be at least 4 million years old, possibly millions of years older. Its discovery was first reported in the journal Science on 30 August 2013 (submitted 29 April 2013), by scientists from the University of Bristol, University of Calgary and University of Urbino.

See also

• Geography of Greenland