Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
A hidden landscape
If we were able to see beneath the ice, a very different landscape would be
revealed. The lowlands that characterise East Antarctica are interrupted by
subglacial highlands, the Gamburtsev Mountains that reach up to only 600 m
beneath the surface of the 4 km thick ice sheet. The highlands are about the same
size as the European Alps, about 1200 km long and about 3400m from base to
the highest point. Not only have these mountains never been seen but we can only
speculate as to why they should occur in such an unusual position in the centre of an
old continental shield. The Gamburtsev Mountains may represent the eroded
remnants of a very old mountain range, a view that is in keeping with the known
history of East Antarctica yet in contrast with other ancient continental interiors
such as Australia or North America where there are no such central old
highland regions that have survived millions of years of weathering and erosion.
Figure 2.8
Sub-ice topography map showing the rock underlying the continental ice sheet.
(Copyright SCAR)
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