Mysterious nature-the vast sea trough found in space 7 kilometers beneath the Antarctic ice

According to foreign media reports, scientists in Antarctica under the ice found a deeper than the American Grand Canyon of the ancient trough. It is part of an ancient mountain range. Scientists have discovered that it hides a few kilometers beneath the ice, using a specially developed detection radar.

The valley below this huge glacier is 3 kilometers deep, more than 300 kilometres long and 25 kilometers wide. At the same time, in some places, the bottom is more than 2000 meters below sea level. The giant mountain range, located in the west of Antarctica, is covered with ice up to 7 kilometres thick. This huge glacier under the valley deepest 3 kilometers, longer than 300 kilometers, the widest 25 kilometers. At the same time, in some places, the bottom is more than 2000 meters below sea level. The underwater radar image helps researchers find out where this huge valley is located 7 kilometers below the Antarctic ice: the deep trough, larger than the Grand Canyon, can even be seen from space.

The researchers say that although buried 7 kilometers under the ice, it is too large to even see it from space.

Scientists at Newcastle University, University of Bristol Glacier Research Center, British Antarctic Survey, University of Edinburgh, University of Exeter and York University conducted the study. They combined the satellite, the ice-sniffing radar that was dragged under the snow truck and the data collected by the small aircraft to map the lower highlands of the Elsworth Glacier. The ancient mountains were buried several kilometres below the Antarctic ice.

The researchers surveyed and plotted maps in the southwestern polar region for 3 seasons. They point out that millions of years ago, a small ice sheet similar to the Antarctic Peninsula, the Canadian Arctic or the Alaska State ice sheet carved the mountain and this very deep valley.

"Although scientists have been arguing over the past millions of years about the growth and decline of the ice sheets in the southwestern polar states, there is no way of knowing when the ice originated and when it entered its cycle," said Martin Schiggitt, a professor of Earth science at the University of Bristol. Through the echo detection of ice radar and the combination of satellite images, we observed the terrain under this ice sheet and found a region with typical glacial landforms such as U-shaped valleys and ice buckets. It may have just been formed by a very small ice cap. This is similar to what is happening today in the Arctic polar latitudes of Canada and Russia. So, the area we found was the origin of the Antarctic ice sheet. ”

The results of this research group provide unprecedented scientific data on the size, thickness and behavior of this ancient ice sheet, as well as on the structure and behavior of early Southwestern polar ice sheets. The glacier's landscape shows where the ice sheet originated in southwestern Antarctica and its growth process, as well as providing important clues as to the size and shape of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet in the context of global warming. The findings are published in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Geological Society.

The first author of the study, also Dr Neil Ross, a scientist at Newcastle University, said: "We are in a chance to discover this huge trough and the surrounding mountain landscape." We used an ice-seeker to get the data at both ends of this huge valley, but we don't know anything about the middle of the two. Satellite data can fill this void because, although buried under a few kilometers of ice, it is so large that it can be seen from space. In my opinion, it just proves that we know little about the surface of the Earth. Even now, we are still likely to discover and explore hidden underground, previously unknown landscapes, which is very exciting. The study was funded by the British Natural Environment Research Council.