Right Beneath Our Feet - An Antarctic Canyon


                It’s kind of like discovering a hidden, locked room that you never knew was there in the house you’ve been living in for the last 20 years.

                Scientists in the British community have made the eye-opening discovery of a huge, gapingcanyon we never knew we had! It’s surrounded by towering mountain ranges, and has a deep, still lake to its credit. The massive trough is about 300 km, or 186 miles long. It would take you several hours to drive from one end of it to the other. It’s about 25 km or 15 ½ miles across at the widest point, and an impressive 1.9 miles or 3 km deep, making it almost 2 times deeper than our famous and much photographed Grand Canyon.

                And yet no one ever saw it before.

                Actually, no one has seen it yet and likely won’t anytime soon, seeing as it’s buried beneath miles of solid ice.

                There are many mysteries beneath the massive and impenetrable ice sheets of the Antarctic continent.  Most of it has been securely locked from human view since before there were any humans around to view it. But now, thanks to radar and satellite viewing technology, we’re getting our first glimpses.

                The canyon, viewable here through radar readings, was discovered by the scientists as they were studying the Ellsworth Subglacial Highlands mountain range, also invisible beneath the glacial ice. As it turns out, these mountains surround this great, big canyon. They got these amazing readings through powerful radar equipment pulled behind snowmobiles or loaded onto small planes. They also used satellite imagery. This canyon is so enormous that it can actually be seen from space! Considering the ultra modern technology that had to be used to find it, it’s no wonder no one else ever found the Canyon, before. But just imagine how many famous Antarctic explorers might have walked right over and never even knew they were standing on top of a huge valley.

                It will, no doubt, take the scientists some time to collect and process the massive amounts of data this new canyon will no doubt yield. And, as long as the ice remains solid (and we certainly don’t want it to melt!), no one will be able to explore the place first hand.

                But it sure is fodder the for the imagination, isn’t it? What kind of caves and rock formations lay undiscovered down there? How many ancient river and lake beds? Could there be the remains of ancient waterfalls, too? Perhaps big enough to out-thunder Niagara? Fossilized and petrified remains found in Antarctica have revealed evidence of dinosaurs and even forests that flourished there in ancient times. What remains might be found on the canyon floor?

                Well, whatever is or is not revealed by this amazing new discovery, it just goes to show that Mother Nature has some pretty astounding secrets hidden away, yet.

                And she doesn’t have to say a single word ….until she’s good and ready.

               

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