Okay, I will enrich teh article with interactive callouts after suitable breakpoints.
Jakarta, 2025-06-16 15:30:00
Ancient antarctic Landscape Unearthed
Scientists have discovered a vast, untouched landscape hidden beneath the Antarctic ice, offering a glimpse into a world that existed millions of years ago.
- An ancient landscape, untouched for over 34 million years, was found under the Antarctic ice.
- The hidden terrain, located in Wilkes Land, once featured rivers, forests, adn possibly palm trees.
- The revelation offers insights into the evolution of the Antarctic ice sheet and potential impacts of climate change.
Beneath the icy surface of Antarctica lies a hidden world.More than a mile beneath the ice in East antarctica, a team of scientists has uncovered an ancient landscape, complete with valleys and even the remnants of forests. This dramatic find reveals a time capsule untouched for over 34 million years, potentially offering clues about the planet’s climate history. The area, located in Wilkes Land, once boasted rivers, forests, and possibly even palm trees.
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In fact, pollen from palm trees was found along the nearby Antarctic coast, providing compelling evidence of a fertile past.Researchers estimate the hidden landscape spans over 19,300 square kilometers.
“This is like revealing time capsules,” said Professor Stewart Jamieson, lead author of the study from Durham University.
A Continent Transformed
Millions of years ago, as the continents shifted, Antarctica migrated towards the South Pole. This movement sparked powerful ocean currents, isolating the continent from warmer waters. Simultaneously, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels decreased, cooling the planet. These changes combined to trigger the formation of a massive ice sheet, transforming Antarctica into the frozen desert we know today.
“The soil under the East Antarctic ice layer is less well known than the surface of Mars,” notes Professor Jamieson. The research focused on a specific portion of the landscape to understand its history and the evolution of the ice sheet.
Unveiling the Ancient Terrain
The research uncovered a dramatic ancient landscape buried under the thick Antarctic ice. The study identified three prominent high soil blocks, each stretching between 120 and 168 kilometers in length and up to 85 kilometers wide, separated by a valley nearly 1,188 meters deep.
Unlike many glaciers that erode the land below, the ice in East Antarctica is incredibly cold and moves slowly, shifting less than 4.8 meters per year. This slow movement has preserved the landscape in remarkable detail. Scientists refer to it as ‘cold-based ice,’ meaning the ice is frozen to the ground,causing minimal erosion.
“It is truly remarkable that this landscape, hidden from view for many years, can tell us so much about the initial and long-term history of the East Antarctic Ice,” says Neil Ross, professor of environmental geophysics at Newcastle University, and one of the study’s authors. “This also helps us understand how it might evolve in response to climate change in the future.”
Researchers employed satellite imagery to detect subtle surface features and used computer models to track how the landscape has changed over time. Some areas of the buried terrain have been uplifted by as much as 487 meters, slowly pushed upwards by the weight of the ice above. This preserved terrain offers a rare window into Antarctica’s past, long before ice enveloped the continent.
“What we find is the surface of the ancient land that has not been eroded by the ice layer, and rather, looks like it was formed by the river before the ice came,” Professor Jamieson explains. The region may have had flowing rivers, dense forests, and moderate climates.
As the ancient supercontinent Gondwana began to break apart, shifting land created deep cracks and gaps. These cracks may have split the highlands into different blocks before the arrival of the first glacier. Over time, cool climates and small glaciers formed, carving valleys deeper and creating a classic U-shaped formation, the hallmark of mountain glaciation.
Around 14 million years ago, the East Antarctic Ice sheet expanded, engulfing the area in ice. Even during subsequent warm periods,such as the mid-Pliocene,about 3 million years ago,the region remained frozen.
That’s what makes this discovery important, as Earth approaches carbon dioxide levels and temperatures unseen since the ice-free era. Scientists warn that if global warming continues,the ice sheet may shrink again,even tho drilling through over 1.6 km of ice to access the landscape will require time, energy, and resources.
“We will continue to explore the landscape, doing our best to fill the gaps and use the information to understand how the ice and underlying landscape have changed during its long history,” Professor Jamieson said.
The Race to the Bottom: Antarctic Exploration Thru Time
The recent revelation of the ancient Antarctic landscape provides a fresh perspective on the continent’s history, but what of the human exploration of this frozen land? While the buried valleys and forests offer a glimpse of the distant past, human engagement wiht Antarctica is a more recent story, one filled with both scientific endeavor and daring feats of exploration.
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