Long-Lost Continents Under Antarctica Revealed in Old Satellite Data

From Popular Mechanics

Beneath Antarctica's millions of square miles of ice, the land of thousands of feet, sits dirt and rock like every other continent. In fact, scientists now say they've discovered a collection of hidden continents under Antarctica left over millions of years ago.

The researchers from Kiel University in Germany and the British Antarctic Survey who made this surprising finding were relying on the European Space Agency's GOCE satellite. GOCE was a simple satellite that measured the pull of Earth's gravity as it orbited the planet. By earthly gravity and earthquake, the earth's structure and composition of the surface.

"These gravity images are revolutionizing our ability to study the continent," Fausto Ferraccioli said in a press release.

Using data from this satellite, the researchers took a look at Antarctica under the ice. They discovered geologic structures called cratons, which are the core regions of most tectonic plates. They also found orogens, which are folded-up regions of the world that are precursors to mountain ranges. By studying the amount of cratons and orogens, researchers can compare the continental plates beneath Antarctica to other regions around the world.

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For instance, East Antarctica is a patchwork of old cratons and younger orogens. The researchers found similar structures in Australia and India. West Antarctica, on the other hand, has a thinner and more homogeneous crust more closely resembling the southern tip of South America.

This new information tells scientists about the Antarctic continent. More importantly, it tells scientists what will happen in the future. Antarctica is melting pretty quickly, and knowing the underlying structure of the continent, and hopefully-how it will eventually recover.

Follow-up experiments, like NASA's GRACE mission, can provide even more detail about the land Antarctica, and help scientists paint a picture of what lies underneath all that ice. With any luck, that data can help scientists save at least some of it.

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