Worlds under worlds...

But when the submersible returned with detailed images of the underside of the ice shelf, Wåhlin was surprised at what she saw; peaks, valleys, plateaus and teardrop-shaped formations.

Ice can melt at different rates along the same ice shelf, depending on the movement of the water, and Ran's images revealed the basal topography of the Dotson Ice Shelf varies significantly from east to west. In the east the ice is thick and melts slowly. "That's where we saw the biggest surprise," says Wåhlin. "It looked like the Grand Canyon. There were plateaus and swirly patterns melted into the ice."

Moving towards the centre of the ice shelf, the images showed terraced features. Meanwhile in the west, the ice was noticeably thinner with smooth features, indicating faster-moving currents and so higher melt rates.

The researchers saw patterns on the base of the ice shelf they were not expecting – perhaps formed by flowing water under the influence of Earth's rotation, says Wåhlin. Current models can't explain these discoveries, she says, and there is a wealth of processes left to discover in future research missions under the glaciers.

#Nature
#Climate

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20241119-antarcticas-upside-down-ice-scape-we-had-no-idea-existed