Science at the heart of Antarctica
Field camp under the stars
Photo: Christopher Wilson | Traveling deep into East Antarctica's interior and working in temperatures that average minus 35șC, the science teams spent two months at two remote field camps while they completed the first major geophysical survey to 'map' the mysterious landscape that lies beneath the vast ice sheet.
Mountains and lakes beneath the ice
The AGAP project aimed to further our understanding of the origin and the influences of the subglacial Gamburtsev Mountains. The main objective was to derive a four dimensional evolutionary history of the area of East Antarctica affected by the world's largest glacier (Lambert) and associated ice shelf (Amery).
The project surveyed a transect from the centre of the Antarctic continent, where the ice sheet is underlain by the Gamburtsev Mountains, northwards into Prydz Bay. To create a 3-dimensional map of what lies beneath the ice sheet, two aircraft completed the first aerogeophysical survey over the Gamburtsev Mountains and Dome A in East Antarctica. Results from this aircraft mission, combined with data from a suite of 25 seismic instruments on the ice, will unlock the secrets hidden beneath the ice.
 The exploration of the Gamburtsev Mountains 
Through the use of airborne radar and satellite measurements, more than 200 subglacial lakes have been located in Antarctica. Water moves between these lakes through a complex system of under-ice rivers, streams and even swamps. Scientists believe water under the ice sheet lubricates the underside of the ice making the ice sheet slide faster. The moving water seems to have a direct link to ice sheet stability.
A deep ice core (1200 metres) extracted from Law Dome
| Insight into climate
Computer models have indicated that there's a strong possibility that the Gamburtsev Mountains are the birthplace of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. It is thought that over 30 million years ago ice began to form around the peaks, eventually burying the range and its surrounding lakes.
This makes it the ideal place to hunt for the best location for ice-core drilling campaigns into Antarctica's oldest ice and to discover clues to past, present and future climate change.
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