This recently found landscape includes ancient valleys and ridges, not dissimilar in size and scale to the glacially-modified landscape of North Wales, UK.
Its presence implies a long-lasting temperature level stability of the ice sheet in the location investigated by the scientists.
The research study has been released in the journal Nature Communications.
How the landscape of Antarctica would appear if the ice were raised away, Credit: Stewart Jamieson.
Implications for Climate Science
Lead author Professor Stewart Jamieson, in the Department of Geography, Durham University, UK, said: “The land below the East Antarctic Ice Sheet is less well known than the surface of Mars.
” And thats a problem because that landscape manages the way that ice in Antarctica streams, and it manages the way it may react to past, present, and future climate change.
” So, were investigating a small part of that landscape in more detail to see what it can inform us about the advancement of the landscape and the evolution of the ice sheet.
” And what we find is an ancient land surface that has actually not been deteriorated by the ice sheet and rather it appears like it was created by rivers before the ice occurred.
” This tells us that there hasnt been a great deal of modification in this particular area, which indicates that although this part of the ice sheet might have pulled away during warmer times in the past, the conditions at this site most likely did not change much, which assists us understand how the ice sheet might react to future and continuous warming.”
Research Contributions and Future Exploration
The research studys co-author Neil Ross, Professor of Polar Science and Environmental Geophysics at Newcastle University, UK, stated: “It is exceptional that this landscape, hidden in plain sight for lots of years, can inform us so much about the early, and long-lasting, history of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, in addition to assisting us to understand how it may evolve in reaction to future environment change.
” This has actually been something of a slow burn job, however one that has now concerned fruition in an amazing paper including a fantastic research study team.”
The discovery constructs on previous work by this group who, in cooperation with other researchers, have actually mapped out concealed range of mountains, canyon systems and lakes underneath the ice in Antarctica.
Although the landscape underneath the ice sheet is not noticeable to the naked eye, satellite images captured over the area show small undulations of the ice sheets surface area that offer clues about the sub-ice landscape.
In a couple of places, the landscapes presence has been verified by utilizing radio-echo sounding from airplanes to see through the ice and map the shape of the land below the ice sheet.
The research study group proposes it is likely that there will be other, as yet undiscovered, ancient landscapes concealed below the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.
Teacher Jamieson added: “Well continue checking out the landscape, doing our best to fill in spaces where surveys do not exist, and using that details to understand how the ice sheet and its underlying landscape have changed over their long history.”
Reference: “An ancient river landscape maintained underneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet” by Stewart S. R. Jamieson, Neil Ross, Guy J. G. Paxman, Fiona J. Clubb, Duncan A. Young, Shuai Yan, Jamin Greenbaum, Donald D. Blankenship and Martin J. Siegert, 24 October 2023, Nature Communications.DOI: 10.1038/ s41467-023-42152-2.
The survey information collection that underpins this work was supported by the UK Research and Innovations (UKRI) Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the United States National Science Foundation (NSF), and NASA.
The ideal and left images show the airplane and devices utilized to carry out a partial study of Antarctica throughout the ICECAP information gathering project, thanks to ICECAP. The main image reveals how the landscape of Antarctica would appear if the ice were lifted away, thanks to Stewart Jamieson
Researchers discovered an ancient river-formed landscape below the Antarctic ice, providing important insights into the ice sheets long-term stability and responses to climate shifts.
A research group, led by Durham University, UK, utilized satellite information and radio-echo sounding methods to map a 32,000 km2 area of land below the vast ice sheet.
They found a landscape that appears to have been formed by rivers at least 14 million years ago and perhaps even before the initial development of the East Antarctic ice around 34 million years ago.