Drone submarine finds mysterious 1,300-ft-long structures under Antarctic ice
Story by Mrigakshi Dixit • 2h •
An unmanned submarine conducted a first-of-its-kind survey of the underside of an Antarctic glacier.
Researchers at the University of Gothenburg discovered new indications about future sea level rise using this precise map.
The autonomous underwater vehicle Ran was tasked with exploring the cavity beneath the Dotson Ice Shelf in West Antarctica. According to the researchers, an ice shelf is a floating platform of glacial ice that extends from the land and is fed by glaciers.
Over 27 days, ran scanned the underside using sonar technology. Interestingly, the vehicle surveyed over 1,000 kilometers of the Dotson Ice Shelf cavity in West Antarctica, plunging 17 kilometers deep.
“We have previously used satellite data and ice cores to observe how glaciers change over time. By navigating the submersible into the cavity, we were able to get high-resolution maps of the ice underside. It’s a bit like seeing the back of the moon,” said Anna Wåhlin, lead author and Professor of Oceanography at the University of Gothenburg.
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