Scientists have mapped out the landscape beneath Antarctica’s ice sheet in unprecedented detail.
The planet’s largest single ice sheet spans greater than five million square miles.
But more is understood in regards to the surface of Mars or Venus than in regards to the frozen continent’s vast underbelly.
Researchers using recent mapping techniques and satellite data have now discovered evidence of previously undiscovered mountain ranges, deep canyons and lakes.
They said the findings could help experts predict how the ice sheet changes in response to warming.
Professor Robert Bingham, a glaciologist on the University of Edinburgh who co-authored the study, said: ‘I’m just so excited to take a look at that and just see the entire bed of Antarctica directly.
‘I believe that’s amazing.’
He said: ‘Over thousands and thousands of years Antarctica’s ice sheet has sculpted a landscape consisting variously of flat plains, dissected plateaus and sharp mountains, all hidden under the current miles–thick ice cover.
‘With this system we’re capable of observe for the primary time the relative distributions of those highly variable landscapes over the entire continent.’
The international team, led by researchers from the University of Edinburgh, used a mapping technique called Ice Flow Perturbation Evaluation (IFPA).
It uses satellite data of ice surface changes and ice flow physics to infer the hidden bedtopography beneath ice sheets, revealing the complex landscapes missed by traditional radar surveys.
The brand new method has revealed tens of hundreds of previously undiscovered hills and ridges and provided more details about a few of those mountains and canyons hidden beneath the ice.
Lead creator Dr Helen Ockenden, a researcher on the University of Grenoble-Alpes, told the BBC: ‘I believe it’s just really super interesting to take a look at all these recent landscapes and see what’s there.
‘It’s like whenever you see a map of topography on Mars for the primary time, and also you’re like, “whoa, that is so interesting, this looks a bit like Scotland”, or “this looks like nothing I’ve ever seen before”.’
The study, published in the tutorial journal Science, is unlikely to supply the definitive answer as to what lies beneath the ice.
But researchers agree the brand new maps are a invaluable step forward in developing a clearer understanding of the landscape.
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