Scientists have discovered an ancient landscape on Earth: less than the surface of Mars has been studied

The peculiarity of the amazing discovery of researchers has been named

Scientists have discovered an ancient landscape in an area on Earth “less known than the surface of Mars.” An ancient landscape hidden beneath the East Antarctic ice sheet for at least 14 million years has been discovered using satellite data and aircraft equipped with ice-penetrating radar.

Researchers used remote sensing techniques to map 32,000 square kilometers of land – an area about the same size as Belgium. They discovered a landscape shaped by rivers before the formation of the East Antarctic continental ice sheet that once resembled the hills and valleys of modern-day North Wales, according to a study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.

As reported by CNN, scientists set out to map the history of the ice sheet and how it evolved over time, and understanding what the land looked like before it was hidden under layers of ice is an important chapter in that story, the lead author explained. research by Stuart Jamieson, Professor in the Department of Geography at Durham University.

“The ground beneath the East Antarctic ice sheet is less well known than the surface of Mars,” Jamieson said in a statement. “And that’s a problem because this landscape controls how ice spreads in Antarctica, and it controls how it might respond to past, present and future climate change.”

The well-preserved nature of the landscape makes it particularly special. Jamieson said it’s rare to find relatively unaltered landscapes beneath a continental ice sheet – usually the movement of ice as it fluctuates in size and moves, eroding and eroding the relict landscape.

Understanding why this particular ancient landscape has remained largely intact could help scientists better predict the future dynamics of the East Antarctic ice sheet, which contains the equivalent of about 60 meters of potential sea level rise as the planet warms.

According to the study, Earth’s climate is approaching temperatures typical of the times when the landscape likely emerged 34 to 14 million years ago, which were 3 to 7 degrees Celsius warmer than today.

The East Antarctic ice sheet first formed about 34 million years ago, but it has subsequently changed in size, sometimes exposing the underlying land. Jamieson said the preservation of the landscape implies that temperatures at the base of the ice sheet were very cold and stable across these ancient sites, despite some intervening periods of climate warming.

“In other areas, we would actually expect there to be liquid water right between the ice and the layer, which helps grind the material. There is no such thing in our region. So that partly explains how something could last so long,” Jamison explained in a phone interview.

Geophysical data collected by scientists provided the key to understanding what is hidden under the ice 2 kilometers thick, CNN notes.

“The data effectively measures very small changes in the shape of the top of the ice, and basically when we look at it and draw it, it looks like a series of interconnected valleys that should be underneath the ice sheet. We’re essentially seeing the ghost of this landscape from the top,” Jamieson said.

The research team does not know what plants and wildlife may have once inhabited the area, but the presence of rivers suggests the presence of running water, making the presence of vegetation on the landscape highly likely.