Overview
- An international team used Ice Flow Perturbation Analysis to infer subglacial topography from high‑resolution satellite surface data, ice‑thickness measurements, and ice‑flow physics.
- The continental‑scale map resolves features at roughly 2 to 30 kilometers, detailing extensive mountains, valleys, basins, channels, and nearly 72,000 hills otherwise hidden beneath the ice.
- A newly identified channel in the Maud Subglacial Basin averages about 50 meters deep, spans roughly 6 kilometers in width, and extends for around 400 kilometers.
- Researchers and independent commentators say the dataset should be incorporated into ice‑flow and sea‑level models to improve estimates of future Antarctic contributions to ocean rise.
- The authors note limits on resolution and simplifying assumptions about ice–bed interactions, positioning the map as a guide for targeted geophysical surveys and model refinement rather than a final bed atlas.