The majority of Antarctica is covered in a thick sheet of ice, but what lies beneath its frozen surface has largely remained a mystery. A rare look at the subglacial landscape of the frozen continent reveals unprecedented details about Antarctica’s topography, bringing a blurry world into focus.
A team of researchers combined satellite observations with the physics of glaciers to create the most detailed map yet of Antarctica’s hidden landscape, revealing previously unknown hills and ridges, as well as other features that had remained unclear until now. The findings, published this week in Science, offer some clues as to how Antarctica may respond to the effects of climate change, and in turn, how that might contribute to rising sea levels.
Icy surface
Around 90% of Antarctica’s surface is an inland ice sheet up to 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) in thickness. The Antarctic ice sheet is the largest mass of ice on Earth, containing around 90% of the world’s fresh water. The ice sheet is so heavy that it has pushed some parts of Antarctica’s land below sea level.
While Antarctica’s surface is fairly well-studied, its subglacial landscape has remained a mystery. In fact, we may know more about Mars’ landscape than Antarctica’s hidden terrain, according to the researchers behind the study.
Previous attempts to study Antarctica’s hidden landscape relied on radar to see through the ice. The radar equipment was either towed on the ground by snowmobiles or flown on airplanes along specific survey tracks. That method, however, has left scientists with plenty of gaps to fill in between.
For the recent study, scientists used high-resolution satellite data of the ice surface and combined it with the mathematics of how Antarctica’s glaciers move across the continent. They found evidence of tens of thousands of previously undiscovered hills and ridges and were able to capture some of Antarctica’s mountains and canyons in greater detail than before.
A new world
While the map of Antarctica’s subglacial terrain provides new details about the continent’s history, it is important to keep in mind that the findings are based on assumptions of how ice flows and that further observations are needed for more precise data.
“Our landscape classification and topographic map therefore serve as important guides toward more focused studies of Antarctica’s subglacial landscape, informing where future detailed geophysical surveys should be targeted, as well as the extents and resolutions (e.g., flight-track spacing) required to capture the fine details required for ice flow modeling,” the researchers wrote.
Still, the researchers behind the study believe the map can be used to predict how Antarctica’s glaciers would respond to climate change by understanding how the ice moves across the continent.