Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains: Exploring Antarctica's hidden mountain range
Usually mountain ranges, like the Himalayas and the Andes, rise up due to movement of two tectonic plates in the Earth's crust clashing together. But there are no such plates in the Antarctic, leaving geologists scratching their heads as to how the Gamburtsev Mountains came to exist. However, the new study, published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, suggests the hidden mountain chain appeared more than 500 million years ago when the supercontinent Gondwana, which was made up of what is now Africa, South America, Australia, India and Antarctica, was formed.
Usually, as with the European Alps and other mountain ranges, the geography changes because they become worn down by erosion or re reshaped by later events. But because they have been 'hidden' by a deep layer of ice, the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains are one of the best-preserved ancient mountain belts on Earth.
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