East Antarctic Ice Sheet Archives - Astrobiology

Antarctic Circumpolar Current (Photo: Alfred Wegener Institute / Hanna Knahl, Patrick Scholz)

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Icy Ocean World Recon: How Did Earth’s Most Powerful Ocean Current Form?

by Keith CowingApril 9, 2026April 9, 2026

It transports far more than 100 times as much water as all of the Earth’s rivers combined: The Antarctic Circumpolar Current rushes around the southern continent unhindered by land masses […]

RV Polarstern in inner Pine Island Bay (Photo: R. Larter, BAS)

Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exploration Gear & Tech, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Ice Planet Update: The Dawn Of Earth’s Antarctic Ice Sheets

by Keith CowingJuly 14, 2024July 7, 2024

For the first time, researchers, including from British Antarctic Survey, have combined unique geological samples with sophisticated modelling to provide surprising insights into when and where today’s East and West […]

a Surface elevation of the Antarctic Ice Sheet from the Reference Elevation Model of Antarctica68. The black line marks the present-day grounding line74; pale areas are floating ice shelves. b Bed elevation of Antarctica beneath the grounded ice sheet from BedMachine v.364. Surface and bed elevations are relative to the global mean sea level (the EIGEN-6C4 geoid). The black dashed box shows the extent of the maps in Figs. 2 and 5, and lines of latitude are separated by 5°. ASB Aurora Subglacial Basin, DML Dronning Maud Land, GSM Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains, TAM Transantarctic Mountains, WSB Wilkes Subglacial Basin. c Composite global oxygen isotope record from benthic foraminifera75. Lower (more negative) δ18O values indicate lower ice volume and/or warmer ocean temperatures; higher (more positive) δ18O values indicate greater ice volume and/or cooler ocean temperatures. Labels show the timings of major climate intervals or transitions (red), glacial expansions (black), and prevailing glacial conditions (blue). Plio. = Pliocene; Plt. = Pleistocene; note that the Holocene epoch (0.012–0 Ma) is not shown on the timescale. -- Science

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Ancient Landscape Discovered Beneath The East Antarctic Ice Sheet

by Keith CowingNovember 11, 2023November 11, 2023

Editor’s note: of particular interest to Astrobiology mission planners are the ice-covered worlds in our solar system – Enceladus, Europa, Ganymede, Mimas, Titan, etc. and the probability that they have […]

Researchers drilling into Lake Vida in October, 1996. Image courtesy of the Priscu Research Group, Montana State University at Bozeman

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mars, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Tricorders & Sensors, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Researchers Uncover Extreme Lake — and 3000-Year-Old Microbes — in a Mars-Like Antarctic Environment

by Keith CowingDecember 16, 2002April 14, 2024

NSF-supported researchers drilling into Lake Vida, an Antarctic “ice-block” lake, have found the lake isn’t really an ice block at all. In the December 16 issue of the Proceedings of the […]