New Map Shows What Antarctica Looks Like Naked Under Its Massive Ice Sheet

Did you know that Antarctica is not just a floating chunk of ice like the Arctic? It actually sits on a solid continent of mountains, rocky terrain, and even gold-spewing volcanoes! Thanks to a groundbreaking map called Bedmap3, developed by international scientists led by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), this hidden world beneath Antarctica’s frozen surface has been revealed in stunning detail.

Bedmap3 was created using over 60 years of survey data collected by satellites, planes, ships, and even dog-drawn sleds. Various imaging techniques such as radar, seismic reflection, and gravity measurements were used to map out the bedrock beneath the colossal ice sheet, which has an average thickness of 2,148 meters. The map consists of over 82 million data points rendered on a 500-meter grid spacing, making it the most detailed map of Antarctica’s rock bed to date.

One of the key features of Bedmap3 is its significantly sharper detail of Antarctica’s geographical features, including deep valleys, rocky mountains, and areas where the floating ice shelves extend over the ocean. Recent technological advances and new expeditions, particularly in East Antarctica, have greatly contributed to the map’s improvements. East Antarctica, the largest and least explored part of the continent, remains a challenging region for researchers due to its extreme remoteness and harsh conditions.

The map will play a crucial role in better understanding the past and future evolution of the Antarctic ice sheets, especially in the face of climate change. Based on the data used to create Bedmap3, it is estimated that global sea levels could rise by around 58 meters if all the ice in Antarctica were to melt. This information is essential for computer models that predict how the ice will flow across the continent as temperatures rise.

Dr. Hamish Pritchard, a glaciologist at BAS and lead author of the study detailing the new map, explained, “Imagine pouring syrup over a rock cake – all the lumps, all the bumps, will determine where the syrup goes and how fast. And so it is with Antarctica: some ridges will hold up the flowing ice; the hollows and smooth bits are where that ice could accelerate.” Peter Fretwell, a mapping specialist at BAS, added, “What Bedmap3 is showing us is that we have got a slightly more vulnerable Antarctica than we previously thought.”

The map and its findings were published in the Nature journal Scientific Data, shedding light on the hidden world beneath Antarctica’s icy surface and the potential impacts of climate change on this vast continent.