Science & Technology

Real-life 'land that time forgot' discovered beneath the Antarctic ice

By T.K. Randall
June 14, 2025 ·  1 comment

A map of Antarctica's underlying landscape. Image Credit: British Antarctic Survey It might be hard to imagine today, but millions of years ago Antarctica wasn't the freezing, barren wasteland of snow and ice that we see now but a vibrant landscape consisting of forests, rivers, swamps and mountains teeming with all manner of long-extinct creatures.

Now a team of scientists headed up by Professor Stewart Jamieson - a geologist at Durham University - has uncovered a veritable lost world deep beneath the Antarctic ice.

Untouched for 34 million years, this 12,000-square-mile region lies in a part of east Antarctica called Wilkes Land and lies approximately one mile beneath the frozen surface.

Discovered through the use of satellite data and ice-penetrating radar, this long-lost region consists of deep valleys and towering ridges, indicating the presence of ancient rivers and forests."This finding is like opening a time capsule," said Prof Jamieson.

"The land underneath the East Antarctic ice sheet is less well-known than the surface of Mars."

"We're investigating a small part of that landscape in more detail to see what it can tell us about the evolution of the landscape and the evolution of the ice sheet."

As for the future, there are plans to drill directly down through the ice to obtain samples for further study and analysis, potentially revealing even more about this prehistoric lost world.

The research could also help scientists better understand how the Antarctic landscape is likely to evolve over the coming decades.

Source: Metro | Comments (1)

Tags: Antarctica