A new map reveals the landscape beneath Antarctica’s ice in unprecedented detail, and scientists say it could significantly improve our understanding of the frozen white continent.

Researchers used satellite data and the physics of how Antarctic glaciers move to uncover what the continent looks like beneath the ice.

They say they have found evidence of thousands of previously undiscovered hills and ridges, and that maps of some of Antarctica’s hidden mountain ranges are now clearer than ever before.

Although there are uncertainties in the map, researchers believe the new details could shed light on how Antarctica will respond to climate change and what that means for rising sea levels.

“This is like before we had grainy film cameras. Now we have digital images that are properly zoomed in to see what’s actually going on,” lead author Dr. Helen Ockenden, a researcher at the University of Grenoble Alpes, told BBC News.

Thanks to satellites, scientists have a better understanding of Antarctica’s icy surface, but what lies beneath remains a mystery.

In fact, more is known about the surfaces of some of the planets in our solar system than much of the terrain beneath Antarctica’s “subsurface,” or ice sheets.

But researchers now have what they believe to be the most complete and detailed map of underground space ever created.

Professor Robert Bingham, a glaciologist at the University of Edinburgh and a co-author of the study, said: “We’re really excited to see this and be able to see the entire strata of Antarctica at once.” I think it’s amazing.

Traditional measurements from the ground or from the air have been made along individual survey lines or tracks, often using radar to “see” beneath the ice, which is up to 3 miles (4.8 km) thick in some locations.

But these tracks can be tens of kilometers apart, and scientists need to fill in the gaps.

“If you were to imagine that the Scottish Highlands or the European Alps were covered in ice and the only way to understand their shape was to occasionally fly several kilometers away, it would be impossible to see all these sharp peaks and valleys that we know are there,” Bingham said.

So the researchers took a new approach: combining knowledge of the ice’s surface from satellites with understanding of ice movement from physics and matching them with previous trajectories.

“It’s similar to when you’re kayaking on a river. There are rocks under the water, and sometimes there are eddies on the surface of the water, which lets you know about the rocks under the water,” Ockenden explained.

“And while ice flow is obviously very different from water, still, when ice flows over rock ridges and hills, […] It shows itself not only in the surface topography, but also in the speed. ”

We knew about Antarctica’s major mountain ranges, but scientists’ new approach has revealed tens of thousands of previously undiscovered hills and ridges, as well as more detailed information around some of the mountains and canyons buried under ice.

“I think it’s really very interesting to look at all these new landscapes and see what’s out there,” Ockenden said.

“It’s like seeing a topographic map of Mars for the first time and thinking, ‘Oh, this is really interesting, this looks a bit like Scotland,’ or ‘This looks like something we’ve never seen before.'”

One interesting discovery is a deep channel carved into the floor of Antarctica in an area called the Maud Glacier Basin.

The waterway has an average depth of 50 meters, a width of 6 kilometers, and a total length of approximately 400 kilometers (approximately 250 miles). This is approximately the distance from London to Newcastle.

The researchers’ new map is unlikely to be the final one. It relies on making accurate assumptions about how the ice will flow and, like other methods, is subject to uncertainties.

And there are still many things we don’t understand about the rocks and sediments beneath the ice.

But other researchers agree that the map, combined with further surveys from the ground, air and space, will be a valuable step forward.

“This is a really useful product,” said Dr Peter Fretwell, chief scientist at the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge. Although he was not involved in this research, he has been extensively involved in previous mapping.

“It gives us the opportunity to fill in the gaps between those investigations,” he added.

Researchers say a more detailed understanding of all the ridges, hills, mountains and waterways could improve computer models of how Antarctica will change in the future.

That’s because these topography and features ultimately shape how fast the glaciers above can move and how quickly they can retreat. warming climate.

This is important because the future rate of Antarctica’s melting is widely considered to be one of the biggest unknowns in climate science.

“[This study gives] “We will be able to better understand what will happen in the future and how quickly Antarctic ice will contribute to global sea level rise,” Fretwell agreed.

The research was published in an academic journal, science.