Lurking deep beneath the frappe sheets of Antarctica , scientist have detected the remnants of long - lost continents . Nope , it ’s not quite Atlantis , but the discovery is shedding some much need light on the cryptic history of Antarctica .
Researchers find out the ancient continents using gravity - mapping planet data ( the same way we map the seafloor ) and bucket load of seismological information , which picked up on a patchwork of ancient key geological feature on the Earth ’s geosphere , the tough forbidden shell of the planet that consists of the impudence and upper mantle .
“ These gravity paradigm are revolutionizing our ability to canvas the least sympathise continent on Earth , Antarctica , ” cobalt - source Fausto Ferraccioli , skill drawing card of geology and geophysical science at the British Antarctic Survey , said ina statement .
Much of the data point came from the European Space Agency ’s Gravity field and Ocean Circulation Explorer ( GOCE ) satellite that cruise the major planet between 2009 and 2013 on a mission to measure the pull of Earth ’s gravitation bailiwick in unprecedented detail . Five years ago , GOCE made an uncontrolled reentry to Earth ’s atmosphere before disintegrating near the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean . as luck would have it , all of its wanted data had made it safely back home before then .
write in the journalScientific Reports , the team explain how they used GOCE data point about how rapidly the acceleration of sombreness change , known as localized gravity gradients , as well as information about the differences in horizontal and vertical element of the gravity field . Together with seismological data of the satellite , they were able-bodied to build up three - dimensional double of Earth ’s plate tectonics , even in hard to reach areas forget beneath kilometer of deoxyephedrine , like Antarctica .
“ In East Antarctica , we see an exciting mosaic of geological features that reveal fundamental similarities and difference between the cheekiness beneath Antarctica and other Continent it was joined to until 160 million years ago , ” note Ferraccioli .
It also revealed how West Antarctica has a notably thinner insolence and lithosphere compared to East Antarctica , made up of cragged folded crustal plate crumples ( make out as orogen ) and ancient stable rocky geographical zone of the Earth ’s crust ( called cratons ) . This is perhaps unsurprisingly standardized to the features of the area ’s preceding neighbor , India and Australia . The craton are also particularly interesting as they make up the onetime cores of Earth ’s lithosphere , therefore they can be studied to unearth insight into the Earth ’s early chronicle .
“ It also provides context of use of how continents were possibly unite in the past before they drifted apart owe to plate motion , ” ESA ’s GOCE mission scientist Roger Haagmans added .
