A lake can provide details about the rise and fall of Antarctica’s ice sheet

Scientists from the Geophysics Institute of the University of Texas at Austin (USA), Identified a lake whose sediments could be the answer to the unknown surrounding the rise and fall of the Antarctic ice sheet. According to the study published in the journal geologyAnd This discovery can Details about what the white continent looked like before it froze, how historical climatic changes have affected the region and what the future of the ice sheet located in the eastern part of Antarctica could look like.

This single body of water could contain the history of the ice sheet that spread across East Antarctica. North American scientists discovered this lake, known as the Snow Eagle, while conducting a polar search by plane. According to experts, it is covered by two miles (3.22 kilometers) of ice and is located in a valley one mile (1.61 kilometers) deep, located in the land of Princess Elizabeth in the Australian Antarctic region.

“This lake likely contains a record of the entire history of the East Antarctic ice sheets, since their formation over 34 million years ago, as well as their growth and evolution during the glacial cycles since.”, confirmed one of the authors of the investigation, the polar expert Don Blankenship. In this sense, the researcher at the University of Texas Geophysics Institute highlighted: “Our observations also indicate that the ice sheet changed dramatically about 10,000 years ago, although we have no idea why.“.

In addition, the researchers estimate that because it is close to the coast, the lake could provide information about the beginnings of the ice sheet and the role of the Antarctic current (the part of the cold water that surrounds the continent). This water mirror is 30 miles (about 48.30 km) long, 9 miles (about 14.50 km) wide, and about 650 feet deep, which is more than 198 meters. Meanwhile, the precious sediments, which can reveal the secrets of the ice sheet’s behavior, extend nearly 305 meters (1,000 feet).

“The Princess Elizabeth Land strip in the eastern part of the Antarctic Ice Sheet is a major reservoir of ice on Earth and adjacent regions that experienced significant changes during the Quaternary glacial cycles and the Pliocene warm episodes.”, confirm the scientists in their work. At the same time they warn that this water mirror “is located along the geological pressure limit that It serves as a reference for future characterizations of the geological and tectonic context of this region.”

As the scientists explained, they found the lake by observing a small depression in the satellite images of the ice cap. After studying the area for three years, they were finally able to identify the snow eagle. “I literally jumped when I first saw the bright radar reflection,” recalls Shuai Yan, lead author of the research and a graduate student at the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Austin. It was he who organized the trip to make sure there was a water mirror.

The next step, according to scientists, is to obtain samples of lake sediments. Martin Siegert, co-author of the paper and glaciologist at Imperial College London explained:This lake has been accumulating sediment for a long time, which can take us through the period when Antarctica was ice-free until the time of freezing.The researcher analyzed “We do not have a single record of all these events in one place, but the sediments at the bottom of this lake could be perfect.” It is noteworthy that The Snow Eagle is named after one of the aircraft used in the find. In the meantime, the details of the maps and its discovery in its discovery.

Read on: