![\"Antarctica](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/PRI_82646419-7d94.jpg\")
\n\t\tScientists believe there were once rivers and forest on Antarctica (Picture: Shutterstock\/Matt Makes Photos)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tScientists believe there were once rivers and forest on Antarctica (Picture: Shutterstock\/Matt Makes Photos)<\/p>\n
An ancient landscape, likely once home to rivers and forests, has been found beneath a mile of ice in Antarctica<\/a>.<\/p>\n The area, untouched for more than 34 million years, covers around 12,000 square miles and is situated in a remote inland region in east Antarctica called Wilkes Land.<\/p>\n \u2018This finding is like opening a time capsule,\u2019 said\u00a0professor Stewart Jamieson, a geologist from Durham University, and lead author of a study into the landscape. <\/p>\n Jamieson and a team of scientists started examining the area in 2017 and, using satellite data and ice-penetrating radar, found towering ridges and deep valleys, suggesting it was once home to rivers and forests.<\/p>\n Millions of years ago, Antarctica drifted towards the South Pole and the resulting formation of ocean currents isolated it from warmer waters, leading to massive ice sheets. <\/p>\n Often glaciers grinds the terrain beneath them as they move, but because the ice in this part of Antarctica is so cold, it\u2019s very slow-moving leading to minimal erosion.<\/p>\n As a result the landscape is preserved in remarkable detail. <\/p>\n The team identified three large blocks of elevated ground, with each one measuring between 75 and 105 miles long and up to 53 miles wide. <\/p>\n The blocks, meanwhile, are separated by valleys as wide as 25 miles and almost 3,900 feet deep.<\/p>\n \u2018The land underneath the East Antarctic ice sheet is less well-known than the surface of\u00a0Mars,\u2019 professor Jamieson said, the MailOnline <\/a>reports.<\/p>\n \u2018We\u2019re 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.\u2019<\/p>\n Neil Ross, professor of environmental geophysics at Newcastle University and also a co-author of the study, which was published by in the journal Nature Communications<\/a>, said research also helps them understand how the landscape \u2018might evolve in response to future climate change\u2019.<\/p>\n Scientists believe that drilling into the ice could help uncover more clues into to the landscape\u2019s past and future.<\/p>\n Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n For more stories like this, <\/strong>check our news page<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow
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