2023-10-24 18:19:02
MADRID, 24 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Satellite data and radio echo sounding techniques have revealed an ancient river landscape that has remained hidden beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet at least 14 million years.
The researchers, led by the universities of Durham and Newcastle, mapped a 32,000 km2 area of land beneath the vast ice sheet. They discovered a landscape that appears to have been formed by rivers at least 14 million years ago and possibly even before the initial growth of the East Antarctic ice about 34 million years ago.
This newly discovered landscape consists of ancient valleys and ridges, similar in size and scale to the glacier-modified landscape of North Wales, UK. It provides important information about the early and long-term history of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, as well as helping us understand how it might evolve in response to future climate change, according to a statement from Durham University.
The discovery builds on previous work by this team which, in collaboration with other researchers, has mapped hidden mountain ranges, canyon systems and lakes beneath the ice in Antarctica.
Although the landscape beneath the ice sheet is not visible to the naked eye, satellite images captured over the region show small ripples on the surface of the ice sheet that provide clues to what lies beneath.
In some places, the existence of the landscape has been confirmed by using radio echoes from aircraft to see through the ice and map the shape of the land beneath the ice sheet.
The research team proposes that there are likely other, as yet undiscovered, ancient landscapes hidden beneath the East Antarctic ice sheet.
Their study has been published in the journal Nature Communications.
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