Vast Basin Network Discovered Under Antarctic Ice

An international research team has unveiled a massive network of basins hidden beneath the thick ice of Antarctica, a discovery comparable in scale to an entire continent. This previously unknown geological formation, located under the East Antarctic ice sheet, opens new avenues for studying the region's geological history.

The structure, named the East Antarctic Fan-Shaped Basin Province (EAFBP) by geophysicist Egidio Armadillo of the University of Genoa, is part of a larger, interconnected system of basins. While large subglacial formations like the Wilkes and Aurora basins and Lake Vostok were already known, this finding reveals they are components of a more extensive, interconnected system.

Researchers combined decades of seismic measurements, subglacial topography data, and radar surveys. They then used models to simulate how the landscape would appear if the approximately 27 million cubic kilometers of ice covering the continent were removed. This reconstruction revealed an extensive, radially spreading network of basins originating near the South Pole, resembling an open fan with basins extending along roughly 2,000 kilometers of coastline.

The geometry of the system suggests it formed through rotational extension, a process where the Earth's crust stretches and rotates around a central point, creating radial structures. These basins lie beneath about half of the East Antarctic ice sheet, reaching depths of up to 3.2 kilometers. Scientists believe their existence significantly influences the movement of ice on the continent's surface, as glacial flow depends on the underlying topography. A better understanding of these subglacial basins could lead to more accurate predictions of how the East Antarctic ice sheet will react to climate change.