Durham University
An international research team has unveiled an ancient landscape hidden beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet for over 14 million years. This vast, pristine expanse—spanning 32,000 km²—offers vital insights into the ice sheet’s historical responses to climate changes and promises to reshape our understanding of Antarctica’s hidden terrains.
Mapping Antarctica
The research team, led by Durham University, UK, used satellite data and radio-echo sounding techniques to map a 32,000 km2 area of land underneath 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 around 34 million years ago.
This newly discovered landscape consists of ancient valleys and ridges, not dissimilar in size-and-scale to the glacially-modified landscape of North Wales, UK.
Its existence implies a long-term temperature stability of the ice sheet in the area investigated by the researchers.
The study has been published in the journal Nature Communications.
Arial shot from the plane used to conduct a partial survey of the region during the ICECAP project. (ICECAP/ Nature)
Lead author Professor Stewart Jamieson, in the Department of Geography, Durham University, UK, said: “The land underneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet is less well known than the surface of Mars. And that’s a problem because that landscape controls the way that ice in
