Imagine this: beneath a three-kilometer-thick ice sheet in East Antarctica lies a massive, perfectly flat ancient river landscape over 80 million years old! Yes, you read that right! British scientists, using radar mounted on a small plane, uncovered this geological gem untouched since the ice age 34 million years ago. This forgotten landscape isn’t just a fascinating time capsule; it’s a crucial player in slowing down glacier movement and ice melt. Glaciers don’t slide at the same speed everywhere — where the terrain is flat, like this ancient river system, they slow down. That means this underground landscape acts like a natural brake against climate change, which threatens to raise sea levels by a staggering 52 meters, flooding half the world’s capitals! Scientists now have to factor this new data into climate models to predict the future more accurately. So next time you look at the icy Antarctic, remember there’s a secret landscape beneath the ice that might just be saving our world from disaster. What do you think — is nature the ultimate engineer, or just keeping us on a razor’s edge? Drop your theories below, maybe together we’ll uncover another secret beneath the ice!
Massive Ancient River Landscape Beneath Antarctica Is Changing Climate Models Forever
