Hidden Antarctic Canyon

A vast, previously unrecognized canyon system could be hidden under the Antarctic ice sheet.

21:35 14 January 2016

Hints of the presence of a vast, previously unrecognized canyon system are seen in the shape of the white continent’s surface in Princess Elizabeth Land. If confirmed by a proper geophysical survey, the dimensions would make it bigger than the famous Grand Canyon in the US.

 

Dr Stewart Jamieson, from Durham University, said: "We know from other areas of Antarctica that the shape of the ice surface is obviously dependent on the shape of the landscape underneath - because the ice is flowing over that landscape,"

 

"When we look in Princess Elizabeth Land with satellite data, there seem to be some linear features in the surface ice that to us look very reminiscent of a canyon.

 

"We have traced these faint lineations from the centre of Princess Elizabeth Land all the way to the coast, off to the north. It's a pretty substantial system," 

 

Meanwhile, Prof Martin Siegert, from Imperial College London, added: "Discovering a gigantic new chasm that dwarfs the Grand Canyon is a tantalising prospect.

 

"Geoscientists on Antarctica are carrying out experiments to confirm what we think we are seeing from the initial data, and we hope to announce our findings at a meeting of the ICECAP2 collaboration, at Imperial, later in 2016."