Utah mountain hides enough ice to fill about 600 Olympic swimming pools
Researchers at the University of Utah have discovered that a rock glacier on Mount Timpanogos contains enough ice to fill 600 Olympic-sized swimming pools. By measuring gravity variations, scientists were able to map the hidden water reservoir beneath the rocky surface.
Why it matters
Understanding these hidden water sources is critical for climate research and water management in arid regions like Utah.
From a distance it looks like nothing more than a sprawling pile of rocks high in Utah’s Wasatch Range. But beneath the rubble of Mount Timpanogos is a spectacular hidden reservoir: ice enough to hold some 1.55 million cubic meters of water, which is about 600 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Now, researchers at the University of Utah have mapped this invisible ice using an unusual approach: measuring tiny variations in gravity across the rocky landscape, the university website reports. It’s the Timpanogos Rock Glacier, one of hundreds of rock glaciers in Utah.
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