Gamburtsev Mountain Range

Big mountains hide under the ice. They are in East Antarctica. A thick layer of snow covers them. You cannot see them with your eyes.

Special tools help us find them. These tools use radar to look through the ice. They show sharp peaks and deep valleys.

These mountains are very large. They are a size like the Alps. They are also very old.

Long ago, two plates pushed together. This made the mountains grow. Later, ice moved over the land. This hid the mountains from view.

Scientists still want to learn more. They hope to find real rocks soon.

Big mountains hide under the ice in East Antarctica. We call them the Gamburtsev Mountain Range. They sit near a place called Dome A. These mountains are covered by thick ice and snow. You cannot see them with your eyes.

These mountains are very large. They are about the same size as the European Alps. They have sharp peaks and deep valleys. A group of scientists studied them during the International Polar Year. They used special radar to look through the ice. They also used tools to measure gravity and magnets. They even used tools that pick up earthquake signals.

These mountains are very old. They first formed about one billion years ago. This happened when two plates pushed together. Later, the land began to pull apart. This helped the mountains grow again. About 35 million years ago, glaciers formed. These glaciers became the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. The ice buried the mountains. Scientists still want to find real rock samples from the range. This will help them learn more about the Earth.

Hidden deep under the ice of East Antarctica lies a secret world. This is the Gamburtsev Mountain Range. It sits near a high place called Dome A. It is also close to the Southern Pole of Inaccessibility. These mountains are not visible to the eye. They stay covered by a thick layer of ice and snow. The range is quite large. It is about the same size as the European Alps.

Scientists use special tools to see through the frozen surface. During the International Polar Year, a group called AGAP studied this area. They used ice-penetrating radar to map the shape of the mountains. They also measured gravity and magnetic fields. Some teams flew aircraft across the ice for 120,000 km. They even used seismometers to listen to earthquake signals. These tools showed a landscape with very sharp peaks and valleys.

Learning about these mountains is a very old story. The range first formed about one billion years ago. This happened when moving plates pushed together to make a super-continent called Rodinia. This old mountain range was worn down over time. It left behind a deep, cold root in the Earth. Later, between 250 and 100 million years ago, the land began to pull apart. This process warmed the root and lifted the mountains up again.

There are many interesting facts about this hidden place. The mountains are about 800 km long. They run from the southwest to the northeast. A rift valley sits on the northern side of the range. This valley holds two lakes named Sovetskaya and 90East. Scientists found liquid water three kilometres beneath the ice in the valleys. Even though it is very cold, life and water exist deep down.

These mountains help us understand how our planet works. They show us how the East Antarctic Ice Sheet began to form. Glaciers started sliding down these mountains about 35 million years ago. This process eventually buried the entire range in ice. Scientists still want to drill through the ice to find rocks. They have found rocks from the moon, but not from these mountains yet. Finding these rocks will help us learn how the Earth's crust grows.

The Gamburtsev Mountain Range is a massive subglacial mountain range. It is hidden deep beneath the ice of East Antarctica. This range sits just underneath the high area known as Dome A. It is located near the Southern Pole of Inaccessibility. The mountains are completely covered by a thick layer of ice and snow. This range is roughly the same size as the European Alps. Scientists call it a subglacial range because it exists under a glacier. It is a vital area for understanding how the Antarctic continent was formed.

The mountains formed through a complex series of tectonic events. Tectonic plates are huge pieces of the Earth's crust that move. About one billion years ago, these plates pushed together. This collision helped form the super-continent known as Rodinia. This early mountain range was eventually eroded by natural forces. However, it left behind a deep, cold root in the Earth. This root reaches down into the Earth's mantle. This mantle is the layer beneath the crust. This deep root is still visible today in seismic images.

Later, the mountains underwent a process called rejuvenation. Between 250 and 100 million years ago, the crust began to pull apart. This caused a series of rifting events near the old root. A rift is a crack or valley in the Earth's crust. A forked rift valley runs along the northern side of the mountains. This valley contains two lakes named Sovetskaya and 90East. The rifting process warmed the deep root of the mountains. This heat gave the root buoyancy, which lifted the land up. This uplift re-established the mountains as an 800 km long massif.

The mountains are oriented from the southwest to the northeast. The landscape is very jagged and rugged. It features very sharp peaks and deep valleys. These features are remarkably similar to the European Alps. Even though the mountains are buried, they shaped the ice above them. Around 35 million years ago, the main features of the range were finished. At that time, glaciers began to merge. This process formed the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. The ice sheet eventually buried the entire range.

Scientists discovered this range in 1958. The 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition found the mountains. They named the range after the Soviet geophysicist Grigoriy A. Gamburtsev. For many years, the exact origin of the mountains was unknown. There was not enough data to explain how they formed. This changed during the 2007–09 International Polar Year. A multinational project called AGAP gathered new information. Scientists from Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Japan, the UK, and the US worked together. They wanted to solve the mystery of the hidden mountains.

The AGAP project used many advanced tools to study the range. Researchers used ice-penetrating radar to map the subglacial shape. They also measured local gravitational and magnetic fields. Aircraft flew 120,000 km to explore the area. This mission covered over 20% of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. Scientists used seismometers to pick up earthquake signals. These signals traveled through the rock from the opposite side of the planet. Even at base camps of −30 °C, they found something amazing. They detected liquid water in valleys three kilometres beneath the ice.

This research connects to many different fields of science. It helps geophysicists understand how the Earth's crust is rejuvenated. It also helps glaciologists study the history of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Current models suggest glaciers began sliding down the range at the end of the Eocene. This movement helped build the massive ice sheet we see today. Scientists still hope to drill through the ice soon. They want to collect the first rock samples from the range. Dr. Robin Bell noted that we have samples from the moon. However, we still have no samples from the Gamburtsev mountains. These rocks will finally tell the full story of this hidden range.