Scientists Map Hidden Mountains Under Antarctica's Ice

Scientists just unveiled the most detailed portrait ever of the dramatic landscape hiding beneath Antarctica's ice sheet, revealing a terrain as diverse and stunning as any continent on Earth.

Using cutting-edge satellites and mathematical models of ice flow, researchers mapped the entire continent's hidden bedrock for the first time. What they found is extraordinary: massive mountain ranges, deep valleys carved by ancient glaciers, sweeping plateaus, and more than 30,000 hills that no one knew existed.

The ice covering these features averages over a mile thick. In some places, it reaches nearly three miles deep. Yet the new technique lets scientists "see through" all that ice by analyzing tiny ripples and patterns on the frozen surface above.

Until now, mapping Antarctica's bedrock required dragging radar equipment across the ice by plane or snowmobile, leaving huge gaps of up to 93 miles between survey lines. Scientists had better maps of Mars than the ground beneath Antarctica.

"The hidden landscape of Antarctica contains vast extremes, from towering mountain ranges to immense flat plains," said glaciologist Robert Bingham of the University of Edinburgh, who helped lead the study published in Science. "Boring it is not."

The landscape looks remarkably similar to the fjord-carved terrain of Scandinavia and northern Canada. That makes sense: Antarctica wasn't always frozen. These features formed over 34 million years ago, before ice covered the continent, when it was still connected to South America.

Why This Inspires

This map gives scientists crucial information for predicting how fast Antarctica's ice will retreat as the planet warms. Rough, jagged terrain like mountain peaks and steep hillsides creates friction that slows ice flow toward the ocean.

Since Antarctica holds 70% of Earth's freshwater, understanding how its ice sheet behaves matters for every coastal community on the planet. Better predictions mean better preparation.

The breakthrough shows how human ingenuity keeps finding new ways to understand our planet. By combining mathematics with satellite technology, researchers solved a puzzle that stumped previous generations of scientists.

Now the frozen continent has finally revealed secrets it kept hidden for millions of years, giving us tools to build a more resilient future.