A continent full of mysteries….. However, its size is not big…. just almost twice the size of Australia! Most of Antarctica is covered with the ice. Now, what’s there under the ice sheet?
The British researchers have claimed that they recently discovered mountain ranges and three huge, deep sub-glacial valleys hidden beneath the Antarctica ice. According to researchers, airborne radar data and satellite data helped them map the bedrock topography lying under the ice sheets. A report on their research has already been published in Geophysical Research Letters magazine.

The scientists are trying hard to find out details of the mountain ranges. As the South Pole area is not covered by satellites because of the inclination of their orbits, members of the European Space Agency’s PolarGAP project are using special radars to prepare a map of the region.
The team – led by researchers from Northumbria University in the UK – claimed that the three valleys bridge the gap between ice sheets in eastern and western Antarctic. According to scientists, the sea level can rise because of this mountains and valleys. They explain that the ice is melting around the world due to global warming and Antarctica is no exception. The process creates larger volume of liquid water that is spread in the region. However, the three mountains and valleys are obstructing this natural process in Antarctica. The ice melts quickly in this region and the water flows towards the coast from the centre.

Talking to the media, senior research fellow at Northumbria University Kate Winter said: “We now understand that the mountainous region is preventing ice from East Antarctica flowing through West Antarctica to the coast. In addition, we have also discovered three sub-glacial valleys in West Antarctica which could be important in the future.” She further said: “If the ice sheet thins or retreats, these topographically-controlled corridors could facilitate enhanced flow of ice further inland, and could lead to the West Antarctic ice divide moving.” Winter insisted: “This would, in turn, increase the speed and rate at which ice flows out from the centre of Antarctica to its edges, leading to an increase in global sea levels.”
Meanwhile, Principal Investigator of the European Space Agency PolarGAP project Fausto Ferraccioli stressed that they added a key piece of the puzzle to help understand how the East Antarctic Ice Sheet might have responded to past change and how it might do so in the future by mapping these deep troughs and mountain ranges.

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/boundlessoceanofpolitics/

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Google Plus:
https://plus.google.com/+KoushikDasboundless

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/kousdas?s=09

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Linkedin:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/boundless-ocean-of-politics

Contact us: kousdas@gmail.com

Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das