Ancient River Landscapes Steer Ice Movement in East Antarctica

Nature Geoscience, 11 July 2025

New radar measurements identify remarkably flat surfaces and deep troughs in the ground buried beneath a 3,500 km stretch of the East Antarctic coastline, showing how this topography influences the speed of present-day glaciers. This previously unmapped landscape formed over 80 million years ago when rivers carved across the continent, until it was engulfed in ice around 34 million years ago. Today, these deep troughs buried below the ice steer the movement of fast-flowing glaciers, while flat surfaces act as barriers and likely slow ice loss. Researchers found extensive flat surfaces beneath approximately 40% of the coastline between Princess Elizabeth Land and George V Land in East Antarctica. Mapping such hidden landscapes below the ice improves understandings of present-day ice stability along the edges of the ice sheet and helps improve predictions of future sea-level rise.

Full Paper | News Coverage by Newcastle University | British Antarctic Survey