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The European Space Agency (ESA) has released groundbreaking satellite images which reveal a whole new set of information about the ancient continents, going back as much as 180 million years ago. According to ESA, these masses are just one mile (1.6km) underneath Antartica, but they have never been traced before. The snaps will reveal fresh information about Antarctica, the sixth and the "least understood continent on Earth", the scientists claimed.
Fausto Ferraccioli, Science Leader of Geology and Geophysics at the British Antarctic Survey, said: "These gravity images are revolutionizing our ability to study the continent on Earth: Antarctica.
"In East Antarctica, we have an exciting history of geological features that have been proven to be more than 160 million years ago."
Among the groundbreaking discoveries ESA made, there is new information on Gondwana, a supercontinent that is now Antarctica.
According to ESA, Antarctica and Australia remained 55 million years ago, despite the landmass splitting about 130 years ago.
ESA was also able to reveal West Antarctica has a thinner crust than East Antarctica.
This discovery links this side of the southern continent to Australia and India, as they share with it the type of crust.
ESA used vital data collected by the Gravity Field and Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE), the first ESA's satellite which mapped the Earth's gravity field from 2009 to 2013, when it plummeted into Earth after it ran out of fuel.
The images helped scientists to map the movements of Earth's tectonic plates under Antartica.
They then combine the readings with seismological data to create 3D maps of our planet's lithosphere, the so-called crust and molten boiling mantle of the Earth.
But these findings may not help Antarctica but also have a "fresh" look on Earth.
GOCE mission scientist Roger Haagmans said: "It is exciting to see that gravity gradients, which have been measured for the first time ever with GOCE, lead to a fresh independent look inside Earth.
"It also provides a context for the future of the continent.
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