Is there land under the Antarctic Ice?
Not so long ago, we thought that Antarctica was a huge, ice covered continent, about 21 times the size of the great state of Texas. Then came the International Geophysical Year and scientists from many nations teamed up to give the vast ice cap a proper physical examination. A11 sorts of new information was discovered and some of our old ideas are out of date.. The IGY scientists found that the ice cap did not rest upon a solid continent. On one side there is a large solid plateau. The other side is a series of islands and mountain chains. Across the center of Antarctica, there is a deep trough. It may be that an arm of the sea runs from side to side, cutting the plateau on one side and mountainous islands on the other side. In any case, the thick, heavy ice rests on top of both land and ice in a solid sheet.
The south polar region is blanketed under a vast ice sheet that covers about five million square miles. The glaciers of the north and other parts of the world all rest on solid ground, and for a long time the experts took it for granted that the ice sheet of Antarctica also rests upon solid land.. But not so long ago they were forced to change their minds A great slab of Antarctic ice broke away and floated off into the sea and there was no solid ground below it. The experts got busy and began testing the ice field in other places. The tremendous job is not finished, and we cannot show a detailed map of Antarctica but it is not an, unbroken continent. Some parts of the great ice field rest on solid land and some do not.
