There are clues to the near-future behaviour of a warming Greenland, and perhaps even a warming Antarctic, buried under the North Sea.
Look below its bottom muds and you will find immense valleys. Hundreds of them.
They were carved by rivers of meltwater running beneath the ice sheet that covered Northern Europe towards the end of Earth's last major cold phase.
We've known about these valleys (often called "tunnel valleys" because they were incised under the ice sheet) for some time, but only in recent years has their true scale become apparent.
Modern seismic (sound wave) data gathered by oil and gas prospectors has brought a new clarity that has enabled scientists to study the hidden features in greater detail.
In places, the channels are more like canyons - up to 150km long, 6km wide and 500m deep.
Source: www.bbc.com
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