19 What is Really Hidden Beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet?

Antarctica is often viewed as a sterile wasteland of ice, but beneath its frozen surface lies an active landscape of volcanoes, deep canyons, and mysterious topography. For years, researchers have faced the immense challenge of mapping this hidden world while trying to decipher historical anomalies that seem to show an ice-free continent.

In this episode, we explore the science and stories that define the southern polar frontier. We discuss how historical cartographers drafted incredibly detailed maps of the region hundreds of years before its official discovery, and how modern robotic submersibles are sent into the pitch-black waters beneath glaciers. We also address the geological explanations for the massive pyramid-shaped formations spotted from satellites.

• The 1531 map by French cartographer Orontius Finaeus accurately illustrated the Ross and Weddell seas centuries before explorers officially reached them.
• Geological surveys confirm that Antarctic pyramid structures are natural rock formations, specifically nunataks shaped by glacial erosion.
• In 2024, the two-ton autonomous vehicle RAN disappeared under the Thwaites Glacier, leaving scientists without its advanced mapping sensors.
• Under-ice data gathered prior to RAN's disappearance revealed a complex landscape of valleys and plateaus resembling sunken islands.
• The discovery of numerous subglacial volcanoes and deep canyons shows that the continent is far more geologically active than once believed.

The loss of the submarine RAN represents a severe setback for climate scientists, as the vehicle was uniquely capable of gathering high-resolution data on how warm currents are eroding the West Antarctic ice shelf from beneath.

How might these subglacial discoveries help us prepare for a rapidly changing global climate?