Researchers believe the world's largest canyon may lie deep underneath the Antarctic ice sheet and are currently confirming previously-gathered data.
A recent analysis of satellite data led by Durham University appears to show what could be the world's largest canyon. Found underneath the Antarctic ice sheet, it stretches for over 600 miles and is roughly as deep as Arizona's Grand Canyon.
According to a write-up of the findings, "The canyon system is made up of a chain of winding and linear features buried under several kilometers of ice in one of the last unexplored regions of the Earth’s land surface: Princess Elizabeth Land (PEL) in East Antarctica."
Lead researcher, Dr. Stewart Jamieson, from the Department of Geography at Durham University, said, “This is a region of the Earth that is bigger than the UK and yet we still know little about what lies beneath the ice. In fact, the bed of Antarctica is less well known than the surface of Mars.”
Researchers say the geography beneath the ice sheet could be so old that it existed before the ice ever appeared and that the canyons themselves could lead to a massive sub-glacial lake.
The existence of the massive canyon-lake system is currently being confirmed via radio-echo technology.
