We Have the Most Precise Map Ever of What’s Underneath the Ice Sheets of Antarctica
There’s a new map that shows what the land looks like underneath the ice on Antarctica. This map is helping scientists predict the impact of global warming on the continent.
Researchers from the University of California stated that it is a precise map of the continent, which shows the layout of the land under the ice sheets. The BadMachine project has helped a lot in finding which regions are vulnerable to melting, as the planet warms.
They were also able to find out which glaciers have land underneath them, and what the layout of this land is like. They were also able to find what impact it will have on the ice above it. One of the most exciting findings was that the canyon below Denman Glacier in East Antarctica is more in-depth than we all expected to be.
The Most Precise Map Ever of What’s Underneath the Ice Sheets of Antarctica Revealed
The Denman canyon is 11,482ft (that’s 3,500metres) below the sea level, which makes it the deepest point in the land, which is not covered in water. Older maps show a shallow canyon, but something was missing from that picture.
By combining the existing radar survey and the ice motion data, the researchers know how much of the ice fills the canyon – 3,500 meters according to their calculations. Since it’s narrow, it has to be deep to allow that ice mass to get to the coast.
The second-lowest point on land can be found on another canyon under another ice sheet, in – the Byrd Glacier in Antarctica, which reaches, 121ft (that’s 2,780metres) below the sea level. The lowest point in dry land is of 419ft (that’s 432.65metres) below the sea level, in the shore of the Dead Sea in Israel.
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