Categories: 冰冻圈胶囊

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

Pam Pearson

Recent Posts

Extreme Summer Heat Melted 1% of Svalbard’s Glacier Ice in 6 Weeks

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 18 August 2025) A 6-week period of record-high…

1 月 ago

Svalbard Winter Warming Rises Above Melting Point of Ice

Nature Communications, 21 July 2025 Winter air temperatures exceeded 0°C for 14 days during February…

1 月 ago

COP Video of the Week: Disappearing Glaciers and Snowpack in Ny-Ålesund

Svalbard is warming six to seven times faster than the global average and strongly responds…

1 月 ago

COP30 Cryosphere Pavilion: Applications Welcome

Dear Friends of the Cryosphere Pavilion and Cryosphere Capsule Readers, We are happy to announce…

3 月 ago

COP30 Cryosphere Pavilion: Call for Side Events and ECS Volunteers

Dear Friends of the Cryosphere Pavilion and Cryosphere Capsule Readers! The COP30 Cryosphere Pavilion side…

3 月 ago

Increasing Black Carbon on North American Glaciers Portends Faster Loss

Communications Earth & Environment, 15 July 2025 North American glaciers have rapidly retreated over the…

3 月 ago