I-SEE LAND
First full map of hidden continent below Antarctica dubbed ‘Earth’s deepest land’ revealed
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THE deepest point on Earth's surface has been found hidden beneath a glacier in Antarctica.
The ice-filled canyon reaches 2.2 miles below sea level, making it nearly half as deep as Mount Everest is tall.
Scientists discovered the buried abyss while creating a new map of the mountains, valleys and canyons covered by Antarctica's ice.
Its features could be key to our understanding of how the frozen continent may change future.
"This is undoubtedly the most accurate portrait yet of what lies beneath Antarctica's ice sheet," project scientist Dr Mathieu Morlighem told the .
From above, Antarctica looks flat and featureless – but that view doesn't tell the whole story.
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Beneath its thick layers of ice lies a hidden continent with hills and canyons like any other.
To take a peak at this mysterious landscape, Nasa scientists put together a new map dubbed .
It combines data on ice movements, seismic activity, radar scans and more to produce the most accurate map yet of the White Continent's buried contours.
Experts said the map could help them identify what causes glaciers to retreat.
"Using BedMachine to zoom into particular sectors of Antarctica, you find essential details, such as bumps and hollows beneath the ice," said Mathieu Morlighem, a scientist at the University of California.
"These may accelerate, slow down or even stop the retreat of glaciers."
Among other finds, the map turfed up a previously undiscovered canyon in East Antarctica, under Denman Glacier.
At 2.2 miles deep, the icy trench is the deepest point on continental Earth. The only valleys deeper are found in the ocean.
For comparison, the lowest exposed point on Earth is at the shore of the Dead Sea and yawns to just 1,355ft (0.25 miles) below sea level.
For years, scientists have taken radar scans of Antarctica's surface, but the new map provides the first complete map of its rocky second skin.
Climate change explained
Here are the basic facts...
- Scientists have lots of evidence to show that the Earth’s climate is rapidly changing due to human activity
- Climate change will result in problems like global warming, greater risk of flooding, droughts and regular heatwaves
- Each of the last three decades have been hotter than the previous one and 17 of the 18 warmest years on record have happened during the 21st century
- The Earth only needs to increase by a few degrees for it to spell disaster
- The oceans are already warming, polar ice and glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising and we’re seeing more extreme weather events
- In 2015, almost all of the world's nations signed a deal called the Paris Agreement which set out ways in which they could tackle climate change and try to keep temperatures below 2C
The previously unknown features have "major implications for glacier response to climate change," the authors wrote.
"For example, glaciers flowing across the Transantarctic Mountains are protected by broad, stabilising ridges."
Understanding how ice flows across Antarctica is key to our predictions of how it will melt as the planet warms due to climate change.
If all of the continent's ice were to melt, sea levels would rise by approximately 200 feet, turfing millions worldwide from their homes.
The map was published in the journal
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In other news, an iceberg the size of London recently broke off Antarctica – and it wasn't due to climate change.
UFO-hunters spotted an enormous "alien face" in Antarctica in August while scouring Google Earth images.
And, experts think melting Antarctic ice could cause areas of the ocean to turn a "deep green" colour by 2100.
What do you think of the hidden continent? Let us know in the comments...
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