Sweeping 'Grand Canyon' Discovered Beneath Antarctic Ice - DreamTeamDownloads1, FTP Help, Movies, Bollywood, Applications, etc. & Mature Sex Forum, Rapidshare, Filefactory, Freakshare, Rapidgator, Turbobit, & More MULTI Filehosts

BlueRose · 26-07-12, 18:10

Sweeping 'Grand Canyon' Discovered Beneath Antarctic Ice.
by Andrea Mustain, OurAmazingPlanet Staff Writer

A dramatic gash in the surface of the Earth that could rival the majesty of the Grand Canyon has been discovered secreted beneath Antarctica's vast, featureless ice sheet.

Dubbed the Ferrigno Rift for the glacier that fills it, the chasm's steep walls plunge nearly a mile down (1.5 kilometers) at its deepest. It is roughly 6 miles (10 km) across and at least 62 miles (100 km) long, possibly far longer if it extends into the sea.

The rift was discovered during a grueling 1,500-mile (2,400 km) trek that, save for a few modern conveniences, hearkens back to the days of early Antarctic exploration. And it came as a total surprise, according to the man who first sensed that something incredible was literally underfoot, hidden by more than a half-mile (1 km) of ice.

What wonders lie beneath? Radar equipment is driven across Antarctic ice during field work that revealed a massive rift.
CREDIT: R.G. Bingham.

Old-school exploration

Robert Bingham, a glaciologist at the University of Aberdeen, along with field assistant Chris Griffiths, had embarked on a nine-week trip during the 2009-2010 field season to survey the Ferrigno Glacier, a region humans had visited only once before, 50 years earlier. Over the last decade, satellites have revealed the glacier is the site of the most dramatic ice loss in its West Antarctica neighborhood, a fringe of coastline just west of the Antarctic Peninsula — the narrow finger of land that points toward South America.

The two-man team set out aboard snowmobiles, dragging radar equipment behind them to measure the topography of the rock beneath the windswept ice, in a region notorious for atrocious weather. Braced for arduous, yet uneventful fieldwork, the surprise came right away.

"Scott didn't have a sat phone." Bingham, left, and Griffiths in their tent, living in much the way early explorers did — except for some modern conveniences.
CREDIT: R.G. Bingham.

"It was literally one of the first days that we were driving across the ice stream, doing what we thought was a pretty standard survey, that I saw the bed of the ice just dropping away," Bingham said.
Pyramid tent tossed by gale in Antarctica.

A typical day on the Ferrigno Glacier. Rotten weather was the norm.
CREDIT: R.G. Bingham.

The drop was so sudden and so deep that Bingham drove back and forth across the area two or three more times to check the data, and saw the same pattern. "We got the sense that there was something really exciting under there," he told OurAmazingPlanet. "It was one of the most exciting science missions I've ever had."

Slippery implications

Bingham compared the hidden chasm to the Grand Canyon in scale, but said that tectonic forces of continental rifting — in contrast to erosion — created the Ferrigno Rift, wrenching the fissure's walls apart probably tens of millions of years ago, when Antarctica was ice-free.

Excitement surrounding the discovery has deeper implications than the mere gee-whiz factor of finding such a massive feature. The Ferrigno Rift's "existence profoundly affects ice loss," Bingham and co-authors from the British Antarctic Survey wrote in a paper published in Nature today (July 25).

On a rare clear day, a snowmobile is stuck in soft snow.
CREDIT: R.G. Bingham.

"The geology and topography under the ice controls how the ice flows," said Robin Bell, a geophysicist and professor at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, who was not associated with the research. "Ice will flow faster over sediments, like those found in rifts," said Bell, a veteran Antarctic researcher, who has long studied yet another dramatic, yet invisible geological feature, the hidden Gamburtsev Mountains in East Antarctica.

In addition, the study authors write, the rift is providing a channel for warm ocean water to creep toward the interior of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, gnawing away at the Ferrigno Glacier from below.

Together, these two factors could be speeding the glacier's march to the sea, and the overall effects could have implications for the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which is responsible for 10 percent of global sea level rise that is currently happening.

Scientists are still only just beginning to understand the myriad mechanisms that control the seemingly dramatic melting observed in regions of West Antarctica, and how climate change is affecting all the moving parts.

"With something like the Antarctic ice sheet, some of these processes take centuries, and the amount of time we've been able to observe changes is at the maximum 20 years," Bingham said. "It's a very small amount of time."

"We need to gather more data," he said.

photostill · 28-07-12, 18:21

Since warm ocean water is channeling under this glacier, were the glacier gone, some of it would be underwater. Some how other than it being an unusual geographic feature, I don't think there will be a lot to be discovered there as far as past history goes. Glaciers tend to scrape everything clean as they move. So any plant or animal residues are likely gone.

If you need geologic data from rocks and strata, then that will still be there. It's a question of how to get to it. Going down through ice, other than drilling a borehole, isn't really an easy task.

The mention that warm ocean water is lubing the underside of the glacier is misleading in that it doesn't tell it all. This is written by someone who expects others to know geology and defining the obvious is a waste of time. But to the causal reader who is not involved with the discipline, much is unsaid, because it is assumed you already know.

First the 'warm ocean water' isn't what you would consider really warm. In comparison to it's surrounding its warm. Even in the summer were you in the water there without proper protection, you'd die of hypothermia.

The Antarctic is some of the most forlorn and desolate landscape you can find on the earth's surface. It's no prize winner in the summer. In the winter it's deadly.

If the underlayer of warm water moves at all, like a flow, then this glacier's life is limited. It will eventually melt the glacier and in the meantime will provide a 'bearing' like surface to help it move and break up quicker. Ice is brittle and movement at any speed beyond the ageless movement it normally takes will assist in that break up. It is the fact that it is in a channeled area that allows it the 'wholeness' it has now.

Ladybbird · 29-07-12, 17:19

Incredible..... there is so much we dont know about our world, and so much still to discover. Thanks for this interesting report BlueRose

26-07-12, 18:10	#1
BlueRose GLOBAL REPORTER Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 79 Thanks: 34 Thanked 94 Times in 49 Posts	Sweeping 'Grand Canyon' Discovered Beneath Antarctic Ice Sweeping 'Grand Canyon' Discovered Beneath Antarctic Ice. by Andrea Mustain, OurAmazingPlanet Staff Writer A dramatic gash in the surface of the Earth that could rival the majesty of the Grand Canyon has been discovered secreted beneath Antarctica's vast, featureless ice sheet. Dubbed the Ferrigno Rift for the glacier that fills it, the chasm's steep walls plunge nearly a mile down (1.5 kilometers) at its deepest. It is roughly 6 miles (10 km) across and at least 62 miles (100 km) long, possibly far longer if it extends into the sea. The rift was discovered during a grueling 1,500-mile (2,400 km) trek that, save for a few modern conveniences, hearkens back to the days of early Antarctic exploration. And it came as a total surprise, according to the man who first sensed that something incredible was literally underfoot, hidden by more than a half-mile (1 km) of ice. What wonders lie beneath? Radar equipment is driven across Antarctic ice during field work that revealed a massive rift. CREDIT: R.G. Bingham. Old-school exploration Robert Bingham, a glaciologist at the University of Aberdeen, along with field assistant Chris Griffiths, had embarked on a nine-week trip during the 2009-2010 field season to survey the Ferrigno Glacier, a region humans had visited only once before, 50 years earlier. Over the last decade, satellites have revealed the glacier is the site of the most dramatic ice loss in its West Antarctica neighborhood, a fringe of coastline just west of the Antarctic Peninsula — the narrow finger of land that points toward South America. The two-man team set out aboard snowmobiles, dragging radar equipment behind them to measure the topography of the rock beneath the windswept ice, in a region notorious for atrocious weather. Braced for arduous, yet uneventful fieldwork, the surprise came right away. "Scott didn't have a sat phone." Bingham, left, and Griffiths in their tent, living in much the way early explorers did — except for some modern conveniences. CREDIT: R.G. Bingham. "It was literally one of the first days that we were driving across the ice stream, doing what we thought was a pretty standard survey, that I saw the bed of the ice just dropping away," Bingham said. Pyramid tent tossed by gale in Antarctica. A typical day on the Ferrigno Glacier. Rotten weather was the norm. CREDIT: R.G. Bingham. The drop was so sudden and so deep that Bingham drove back and forth across the area two or three more times to check the data, and saw the same pattern. "We got the sense that there was something really exciting under there," he told OurAmazingPlanet. "It was one of the most exciting science missions I've ever had." Slippery implications Bingham compared the hidden chasm to the Grand Canyon in scale, but said that tectonic forces of continental rifting — in contrast to erosion — created the Ferrigno Rift, wrenching the fissure's walls apart probably tens of millions of years ago, when Antarctica was ice-free. Excitement surrounding the discovery has deeper implications than the mere gee-whiz factor of finding such a massive feature. The Ferrigno Rift's "existence profoundly affects ice loss," Bingham and co-authors from the British Antarctic Survey wrote in a paper published in Nature today (July 25). On a rare clear day, a snowmobile is stuck in soft snow. CREDIT: R.G. Bingham. "The geology and topography under the ice controls how the ice flows," said Robin Bell, a geophysicist and professor at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, who was not associated with the research. "Ice will flow faster over sediments, like those found in rifts," said Bell, a veteran Antarctic researcher, who has long studied yet another dramatic, yet invisible geological feature, the hidden Gamburtsev Mountains in East Antarctica. In addition, the study authors write, the rift is providing a channel for warm ocean water to creep toward the interior of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, gnawing away at the Ferrigno Glacier from below. Together, these two factors could be speeding the glacier's march to the sea, and the overall effects could have implications for the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which is responsible for 10 percent of global sea level rise that is currently happening. Scientists are still only just beginning to understand the myriad mechanisms that control the seemingly dramatic melting observed in regions of West Antarctica, and how climate change is affecting all the moving parts. "With something like the Antarctic ice sheet, some of these processes take centuries, and the amount of time we've been able to observe changes is at the maximum 20 years," Bingham said. "It's a very small amount of time." "We need to gather more data," he said.

28-07-12, 18:21	#2
photostill The Enigma Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 9,977 Thanks: 3,009 Thanked 1,524 Times in 928 Posts	Re: Sweeping 'Grand Canyon' Discovered Beneath Antarctic Ice Since warm ocean water is channeling under this glacier, were the glacier gone, some of it would be underwater. Some how other than it being an unusual geographic feature, I don't think there will be a lot to be discovered there as far as past history goes. Glaciers tend to scrape everything clean as they move. So any plant or animal residues are likely gone. If you need geologic data from rocks and strata, then that will still be there. It's a question of how to get to it. Going down through ice, other than drilling a borehole, isn't really an easy task. The mention that warm ocean water is lubing the underside of the glacier is misleading in that it doesn't tell it all. This is written by someone who expects others to know geology and defining the obvious is a waste of time. But to the causal reader who is not involved with the discipline, much is unsaid, because it is assumed you already know. First the 'warm ocean water' isn't what you would consider really warm. In comparison to it's surrounding its warm. Even in the summer were you in the water there without proper protection, you'd die of hypothermia. The Antarctic is some of the most forlorn and desolate landscape you can find on the earth's surface. It's no prize winner in the summer. In the winter it's deadly. If the underlayer of warm water moves at all, like a flow, then this glacier's life is limited. It will eventually melt the glacier and in the meantime will provide a 'bearing' like surface to help it move and break up quicker. Ice is brittle and movement at any speed beyond the ageless movement it normally takes will assist in that break up. It is the fact that it is in a channeled area that allows it the 'wholeness' it has now. __________________ You can help this site, by clicking on the link below to buy a Premium Account. & Thank you for helping us. Click;

29-07-12, 17:19	#3
Ladybbird Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 47,639 Thanks: 27,645 Thanked 14,458 Times in 10,262 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 8	Re: Sweeping 'Grand Canyon' Discovered Beneath Antarctic Ice Incredible..... there is so much we dont know about our world, and so much still to discover. Thanks for this interesting report BlueRose __________________ PUTIN TRUMP & Netanyahu Will Meet in HELL ..................*SHARKS are Closing in on TRUMP*.......................... *TRUMP WARNS; 'There'll Be a Bloodbath* If I Don't Get Elected'..MAGA - MyAssGotArrested...IT's COMING** PLEASE HELP THIS SITE..Click DONATE & Thanks to ALL Members of ... 1.. THIS SITE IS MORE THAN JUST WAREZ...& TO STOP SPAM-IF YOU WANT TO POST, YOUR FIRST POST MUST BE IN WELCOMES

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)