Hidden valleys and mountain ranges discovered under Antarctica ice.

Although there are extensive satellite data that help image the surface of the Earth and its deep interior, there was a gap around the South Pole area.

Researchers have discovered mountain ranges and three huge, deep subglacial valleys hidden beneath the Antarctica ice.

The findings, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, are the first to emerge from extensive ice-penetrating radar data collected in Antarctica as part of the European Space Agency Polar GAP project.

Although there are extensive satellite data that help image the surface of the Earth and its deep interior, there was a gap around the South Pole area, which is not covered by satellites due to the inclination of their orbits.

The Polar GAP project was therefore designed to fill in the gap in the satellite data coverage of the South Pole and in particular acquire the missing gravity data.

Airborne radar data were also collected to enable mapping of the bedrock topography hidden beneath the ice sheet. The data reveals the topography which controls how quickly ice flows between the East and West Antarctic ice sheets.

The team, led by researchers from North Umbria University in the UK, has mapped for the first time three vast, subglacial valleys in West Antarctica. These valleys could be important in the future as they help to channel the flow of ice from the center of the continent towards the coast.

If climate change causes the ice sheet to thin, these troughs could increase the speed at which ice flows from the center of Antarctica to the sea, raising global sea levels. The largest valley, known as the Foundation Trough, is more than 350 kilometers long and 35 kilometers wide. Its length is equivalent to the distance from London to Manchester, while its width amounts to more than one and a half times the length of New York’s Manhattan Island.

The two other troughs are equally vast. The Patuxent Trough is more than 300 kilometers long and over 15 kilometers wide, while the Offset Rift Basin is 150 kilometers long and 30 kilometers wide.