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From above , Antarctica might seem like a inhuman , flat and bleak landscape painting — and it certainly is . But beneath the chicken feed sheet dwell an entirehidden macrocosm : Scientists have discovered diversebiomes , hidden rivers and lakes , pot and vale , primal bacteria , and even the remnants of ancient ecosystems .
Almost 90 % of Antarctica ’s commonwealth is comprehend in a dense layer of ice — around1.3 miles ( 2.2 kilometers ) bass , on average — and it ’s been that direction foraround 34 million eld . Yet investigator have only scratch the surface of what lies under the secret continent .
Antarctica is home to around 20 million breeding pairs of penguins, like these Adelie penguins near Paulet Island on the Antarctic Peninsula. But what’s below the ice these penguins waddle on every day?
" It ’s so exciting to plunk into these past worlds and to understand how this continent evolve over fourth dimension , and what that means,“Johann Klages , a sedimentologist at the Alfred Wegener Institute of Germany who studies climate story in Antarctica , toldLive Science . " What does it tell us about our own existence on this major planet ? "
In his research , for instance , Klages identify thefirst amber fossil ever found in Antarctica — a remnant of the ancient temperate rain forest that covered the continent over 90 million years ago . Klages believe there ’s probably more amber to be find in succeeding expeditiousness , too .
Antarctica is also home to over400 subglacial lake . The gravid , Lake Vostok , lies under 2.5 mile ( 4 kilometre ) of ice near Russia ’s Vostok Station . " And what ’s in there ? in all likelihood germ , " Klages say . " But also , " because of the huge pressure of the methamphetamine , " probably living that is n’t found anywhere else on Earth . "
Antarctica is home to around 20 million breeding pairs of penguins, like these Adelie penguins near Paulet Island on the Antarctic Peninsula. But what’s below the ice these penguins waddle on every day?
Related : Will Antarctica ever be habitable ?
A complex system of river funnel piddle in and out of those lake , according to research led byChristine Dow , a glaciologist at the University of Waterloo in Canada who has used radar imagination to see what lies beneath the frappe ’s surface .
If you ’re have a concentrated time figure an integral soundbox of water underneath an ice sheet , just reckon of a river you would see flowing into a lake and toward the ocean — " but then you just add on 4 kilometre [ 2.5 mile ] of meth on top , " Dow explained . That ice piddle the piddle behave a bit queerly . " you may really havewater flowing uphillunderneath the Antarctic glass , " she told Live Science . " It ’s not as define by gravity . "
Antarctica has many mountain ranges, including the Royal Society Range by McMurdo Sound.
A lot of what lies under the ice is not as exciting , however . " The vast majority of what ’s underneath the ice is just rock , " Klages state . " It ’s just crystalline bedrock , crystalline cellar , granite . "
One of the most of import element is the very large plane of soggy deposit beneath some parts of the internal-combustion engine , Dow said . " Those are the areas that are flowing really tight into the sea , because essentially the glass is just floating on top of this slurry of sozzled sediment , " she explained . " It ’s not as aesthetic - sounding as the mountains and the vale , but it ’s very important for understanding how the sparkler is behaving . "
roll in the hay what ’s die on underneath the ice canvas is of import for predicting what will materialize when it melt , accord to Dow and Klages .
There are full field of the Antarctic , like much of West Antarctica , that are below sea spirit level because of the thickness of the trash sheet . " There ’s no sea there flop now , because the glass is taking up all of the space , " Dow said .
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If you imagine that the trash is in a bowl , it ’s presently right at the rim . But once the meth commence to pull back , it will move back into the bowl . And because ice is less dense than weewee , it will become more buoyant . At that point , the chicken feed is " floating like a giant ice cube , " Dow said .
Once all of the area below sea level becomes filled by the sea , the ice will become more unstable and will go against up , contribute even more to sea - level rise . " So the moment when that ice begin retire from the brim is really critical , " Dow said . " And we ’re at that spot right now .
" It ’s a pretty unstable home , the Antarctic , " she added . " It ’s beautiful , it ’s huge , it ’s mysterious — but it ’s also really unsafe . "
Antarctica quiz: Test your knowledge on Earth’s frozen continent
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