A Mysterious ‘Radioactive Source’ Is Melting Antarctica From Beneath
Antarctica
is once again showing us what a mysterious place it is. Shrouded in mystery and
said to have been the home place of long-lost civilizations according to some
authors, the icy continent seems to always give us a lot to talk about.
Image
Credit: waagefr / Pixabay.
In the past,
I’ve written about Antarctica plenty of times. I’ve even spotted strange
geometric patterns protruding from the ice, and I’ve also reported about the
numerous discoveries that have been made in recent years.
Scientists
have found that there are strange things, like lost continents beneath
Antarctica. They also discovered that despite being one of the most unforgiving
places on Earth, it is teeming with life.
We also now
know that millions of years ago, Antarctica was covered in green, lush forests,
and scientists have recovered a number of fossils while exploring Antarctica.
And now, a
group of scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) reported another
strange and unexpected discovery.
They say
that that beneath the huge ice sheets that exist in East Antarctica, there is a
mysterious source of heat that is melting Antarctic ice.
Scientists
have located what they believe is a “mysterious radioactive source” kilometers
beneath the Antarctic ice that is slowly melting the continent from beneath.
Scientists
flew over Eastern Antarctica using radar to penetrate and see what is located
kilometers beneath the ice, where something very hot is causing the ice to
melt.
Experts
concluded that the heat source is actually radioactive rocks and hot water
coming from indie our planet’s crust.
Now the icy
continent won’t melt away in a matter of fays, but together with climate
change, the combination could cause a dramatic loss of ice and an increase in
sea level.
“The process of melting we observe has probably been going on for thousands or maybe even millions of years and isn’t directly contributing to ice sheet change. However, in the future the extra water at the ice sheet bed may make this region more sensitive to external factors such as climate change,” explained Tom Jordan, a researcher from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).
“This was a really exciting project, exploring one of the last totally un-surveyed regions on our planet. Our results were quite unexpected, as many people thought this region of Antarctica was made of ancient and cold rocks, which had little impact on the ice sheet above. We show that even in the ancient continental interior, the underlying geology can have a significant impact on the ice,” he added.
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