Antarctica has hidden mountain range new data reveals its birth over 500 million years ago

Antarctica is the coldest place in the world. According to NASA, its average temperature is -34 ° C. There are only two seasons here- one of winter, and the other is of summer. It lasts 6 months in summer, while in winter it is 6 months dark. But have you thought what exists under this part of the earth covered with thick sheets of snow? The new study says that under hundreds of meters thick ice, pointed mountains, valleys, and grounds are also present here! These include some transantructic mountains that have come out above the ice. But there are some such mysterious mountains like Gamburtsev Upahimand mountains, they are completely buried. They are present in the Middle East of Antarctica.

The Gamburtsev mountain height and shape are similar to the Alps mountains of Europe but we cannot see them because they are buried deep under a sheet of ice. The question comes to mind that how do they come here? Actually, any mountain range emerges at the place where two tectonic plates collide with each other. But East Antarctica has been stable for billions of years.

The new study published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters shows how this hidden ranges emerged 50 million years ago when the supermalary Gondwana was made up of the collision of Tactonic plates. The Gamburtsev mountains were first discovered by a Soviet campaign in 1958 using seismic techniques. Since this mountain range is completely covered with snow, it is one of the least deemed tectonic characteristics on Earth.

This is a very surprising thing for scientists. How did such a huge mountain range become, and how is still preserved in the heart of an ancient, stable continent? Plate tectonic models suggest that the crust that is now being built in East Antarctica came from at least two big continents before 70 million years. These continents were separated by a huge ocean basin. The confrontation of these land blocks led to the birth of Gondwana, a continent that included the present Africa, South America, Australia, India and Antarctica.

The new study supports the idea that the Gamburtsev mountain was formed for the first time during this confrontation. The huge collision of continents accelerated the flow of deep, partially melted rock under the mountains. As the crust became thick and hot during the mountain construction, it finally became unstable and started to sink under its own weight.

Most of the mountain ranges made of continental collisions are eventually destroyed due to erosion or their shape changes due to subsequent tectonic phenomena. Since the Gamburtsev mountains are protected by a deep layer of snow, these mountains are one of the best preserved ancient mountain belts on Earth.