antarctica

An international team of scientists and cartographers has released the most detailed map ever of the seafloor of the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica. It covers 48 million km² (19 million miles²) and includes the deepest spot yet found in the region.Despite intense efforts, beginning with the voyage of HMS Challenger in 1873, the seafloor of the world's oceans still remains largely a mystery. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), only 10 percent of the bottom of the ocean has been…

Scientists have good news with regards to Antarctica. A secret ecosystem has been thriving under the icy surface and the discovery was recently made. Researchers have found this "hidden world" beneath the Larsen Ice Shelf. Footage reveals a dark cavern-like space filled with swarms of tiny, shrimp-like creatures. The Larsen Ice Shelf is a massive sheet of ice floating while being attached to the eastern coast of the Antarctic peninsula. Satellite images reveal that the unusual groove where this ecosystem has been found…

Scientists have published a map showing the Southern Ocean floor in unprecedented detail.The new images, generated from sonar data that took years to collect, show canyons, ridges, and mountains deep under the water.  The map was published in the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Data on Tuesday. It is part of the Nippon Foundation General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) Seabed 2030 project, which aims to map the entire ocean floor by 2030.About 21 percent of the world's seabeds have been precisely mapped so far,…

Bacteria in Antarctica have been discovered with genes that give them natural antibiotic and antimicrobial resistance and have the potential to spread out of the polar regions, according to scientists in Chile.Andres Marcoleta, a researcher from the University of Chile who headed the study in the Science of the Total Environment journal in March, said that these "superpowers" which evolved to resist extreme conditions are contained in mobile DNA fragments that can easily be transferred to other bacteria."We know that the…

Lake Whillans is a strange body of water, starting with the fact that there is liquid to fill it at all. Though buried under more than 2,000 feet of Antarctic ice, its temperatures climb to just shy of 0 degrees Celsius, thanks to a combination of geothermal warmth, intense friction from ice scraping rock, and that thick glacial blanket protecting it from the polar air. Given the immense pressure down there, that’s just balmy enough to keep the lake’s water watery. Stranger still, Lake Whillans is also teeming with life.…

Have you ever wondered where do astronauts go to train? The gym for sure could be one for physical strength building exercise, however, they are sent to training grounds in Antarctica! Why you ask? The Antarctica offers a perfect training ground for astronauts who go on long space mission. These astronauts are sent to Antarctica four months in advance to spend time on icy cold region trains these astronauts for several months of isolation, confinement and prepares…

A new discovery deep beneath one of Antarctica's rivers of ice could change scientists' understanding of how the ice flows, with important implications for estimating future sea level rise. Glacier scientists Matthew Siegfried from Colorado School of Mines, Chloe…

Unnamed island off the Glenzer and Conger ice shelves in East Antarctica. November 15, 1989 – January 9, 2022An unnamed mound of white off East Antarctica seems to be an island.The eastern coast of Antarctica has lost the majority of the Glenzer and Conger ice shelves. In the process, it gained what is likely an island. If confirmed, the unnamed island would be one in a series of islands exposed in recent years as portions of the floating glacial ice hugging the continent’s coast have disintegrated.The candidate island is…

Beneath a fast-flowing ice stream in West Antarctica, scientists have discovered a vast aquifer brimming with seawater that's likely been locked down there for thousands of years.   This is the first time scientists have detected groundwater beneath an ice stream in Antarctica, and the discovery could reshape our understanding of how the frigid continent reacts to climate change and what kinds of mysterious organisms lurk beneath its many ice shelves.   The newfound groundwater system can be thought of as a giant sponge,…