Researchers simulate what Antarctica would be like without ice and this is the result

Researchers simulate what Antarctica would be like without ice and this is the result

British Antarctic Survey (BAS) researchers have presented the most detailed map ever Made of the rock bed of the Antarctica, and the result is as amazing as worrying.

Called Bedmap3, the Model has developed with accumulated data for more than 60 years And it reveals for the first time, with unprecedented precision, what is under the gigantic layer of ice that covers the white continent.

“Imagine pouring syrup on a rock cake: all bumps determine where the syrup is going and how fast,” explain the scientists. “The same goes for Antarctica.”

165 million data … and a colossal discovery

Thanks to the analysis of more than 165 million data pointsdouble that in previous models, researchers have managed to “raise” the 27.17 million km³ of ice that cover the region to reveal a hidden landscape of deep valleys, steep mountains and immense plains.

Antarctica map with the natural relief. ANTARCTICS BY PRITCHARD

Among the most striking findings highlights the point of greatest ice thickness Never registered: an unnamed cannon in Wilkes Land, where ice reaches 4,757 meters deep, rather than Mount Blanc and overcoming the previous record of the Astrolabio basin.

Why is this map important?

He Bedmap3 model is key to simulating How ice flows on the continent and how it could do it in the future, as temperatures rise.

“The ice moves faster on smooth or sunk areas. Where the land is flat or in the form of a bowl, the ice could accelerate its journey to the ocean,” experts warn.

This has direct implications in the stages of increased sea levelsince a significant part of Antarctic ice is based on land that is below sea level, which makes it vulnerable to oceanic heating.

Researchers simulate what Antarctica would be like without ice and this is the result
Researchers simulate what Antarctica would be like without ice and this is the resultAP agency

What real risk do we face?

The new map reveals that if the Antarctic ice melted completely “I am something that scientists do not foresee that it will occur in the short term, but that it is not impossible in the long term,” the sea level could rise up to 58 meters. A figure that would radically change the geography of the planet.

With an icy surface of 13.63 million km², more extensive than all Europe, and a medium thickness close to 2,000 meters, Antarctica is confirmed as one of the most complex, unexplored and fragile ecosystems of the planet.