Subglacial mountain range rivals the Alps
Using remote sensing technology and ice-penetrating radar mounted on two aircraft, scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and research institutions from six other nations endured average temperatures of –30°C in some of the highest and most exposed parts of the region to make the most extensive survey of a landscape that is buried under up to four kilometres of ice.
Discovered in 1958 as part of a Soviet expedition using seismic sounding, the precise dimensions of the Gamburtsev mountain chain have remained a mystery until now, despite a small survey conducted during the 1970s. Setting up two bases on either side of 4,000-metre Dome Argus in the middle of the White Continent, the scientists were able to explore a fi fth of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, flying two survey aircraft fi tted with radar and aeromagnetic and gravity sensors a total of 120,000 kilometres – the equivalent of three trips around the world. The results have raised questions about how the region formed.
‘We now know that not only are the mountains the size of the European Alps, but they also have similar peaks and valleys,’ said geophysicist Dr Fausto Ferraccioli of the BAS, who led the UK’s effort. ‘This [research] adds even more mystery about how the vast East Antarctic Ice Sheet formed. If the ice sheet grew slowly, then we would expect to see the mountains eroded into a plateau shape, but the presence
of peaks and valleys could suggest that the ice sheet formed quickly – we just don’t know. Our big challenge now is to dive into the data to get a better understanding of what happened.’
May 2009
Discovered in 1958 as part of a Soviet expedition using seismic sounding, the precise dimensions of the Gamburtsev mountain chain have remained a mystery until now, despite a small survey conducted during the 1970s. Setting up two bases on either side of 4,000-metre Dome Argus in the middle of the White Continent, the scientists were able to explore a fi fth of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, flying two survey aircraft fi tted with radar and aeromagnetic and gravity sensors a total of 120,000 kilometres – the equivalent of three trips around the world. The results have raised questions about how the region formed.
‘We now know that not only are the mountains the size of the European Alps, but they also have similar peaks and valleys,’ said geophysicist Dr Fausto Ferraccioli of the BAS, who led the UK’s effort. ‘This [research] adds even more mystery about how the vast East Antarctic Ice Sheet formed. If the ice sheet grew slowly, then we would expect to see the mountains eroded into a plateau shape, but the presence
of peaks and valleys could suggest that the ice sheet formed quickly – we just don’t know. Our big challenge now is to dive into the data to get a better understanding of what happened.’
May 2009
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