34 million-year-old ancient landscape discovered beneath Antarctic ice: ‘Like opening a time capsule'

This area, which has remained untouched for over 34 million years, spans about 12,000 square miles and is located in a remote part of East Antarctica.

Scientists have discovered an ancient landscape beneath a mile of ice in Antarctica, a place that was likely once home to rivers and forests. This area, which has remained untouched for over 34 million years, spans about 12,000 square miles and is located in a remote part of East Antarctica known as Wilkes Land.

Normally, glaciers erode the land beneath them as they move, but the ice in this region is so cold that it moves very slowly. (Representative image) (Pexels)

“This is like opening a time capsule,” said Professor Stewart Jamieson, a geologist from Durham University and lead author of the study. Jamieson and his team began investigating the region in 2017, using satellite data and ice-penetrating radar. They found towering ridges and deep valleys, which suggest that rivers and forests once thrived there. Millions of years ago, Antarctica drifted toward the South Pole, where ocean currents cut it off from warmer waters, leading to the formation of massive ice sheets.

Normally, glaciers erode the land beneath them as they move, but the ice in this region is so cold that it moves very slowly, causing minimal erosion and allowing the landscape to be preserved in incredible detail.

The team identified three large blocks of elevated land, each between 75 and 105 miles long and up to 53 miles wide. These blocks are separated by valleys as wide as 25 miles and nearly 3,900 feet deep. "The land under the East Antarctic ice sheet is less understood than the surface of Mars," Jamieson said, according to the MailOnline.