British Antarctica Survey scientists have stripped away Antarctica's icy gown, revealing the mysterious frost-filled frontier naked for the first time. The new geographical map, dubbed Bedmap2, sheds new light on a continent rarely visited even today, and provides environmental engineers with a roadmap of the Antarctic ice sheet.
Bedmap2 provides an unparalleled look at the surface elevation, ice thickness, and seafloor of Antarctica, building upon data first compiled into the original Bedmap, which was created 10 years ago.
"The Bedmap2 compilation highlights several areas beneath the ice sheet where the bed elevation is substantially lower than the deepest bed indicated by Bedmap1," the British Antarctica Survey said in a statement. "These products, along with grids of data coverage and uncertainty, provide new opportunities for detailed modelling of the past and future evolution of the Antarctic ice sheets."
In the past, Antarctic survey teams have generally had to rely on ground-based measurements. This made it difficult for scientists, for the continent's fierce weather and sometimes-impassable terrain meant some areas received less attention. Luckily, NASA brought in aerial support in 2009 with Operation IceBridge. The airplanes used lasers to create a more three-dimensional view of the continent, showcasing features previously unseen to the human eye. Operatin IceBridge is currently slated to continue until 2016.
Interested readers can head over to NASA's Bedmap2 page, where they can view an interactive map of Antarctica showing off what lies underneath the icy exterior.
The British Antarctica Survey also utilized data from NASA's Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite.
The findings, the scientists hope, will be of use to climate change experts. By revealing the underlying terrain of Antarctica, they assert, the behavior of the Antarctic ice sheet, such as how it flows and why, can be better explained.
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