posted on Nov, 21 2008 @ 07:43 AM
With respect to the Gamburtsev mountains, no human has ever actually seen them. They extend for over 1 200 km and rise to heights of more than 3
000 metres, but are covered by 600-metre thick ice.
ec.europa.eu...
Genesis 7:19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that [were] under the whole heaven, were covered.
Genesis 7:20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
Genesis 8:5 And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth [month], on the first [day] of the month, were the tops of
the mountains seen.
Habakkuk - Chapter 3
The mountains saw thee, [and] they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, [and] lifted up his hands on
high.
EARTH SCIENCES
Title Researchers chip away at ice-covered mountain in Antarctica
An international interdisciplinary research project to unlock the mysteries behind a great unexplored region in Antarctica has got off the ground.
Part of the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2009 programme, the 'Antarctica's
Gamburtsev Province' (AGAP) project will look for the oldest ice on
Earth, investigate subglacial lakes and explore the Gamburtsev mountains. These and other activities will help the research team determine what
changes took place in the past, what is going on now and how the region will be affected in future.
Gamburtsev beneath the ice © NERC-BAS
Gamburtsev beneath the ice
© NERC-BAS
The team is comprised of researchers, engineers, pilots and support staff from Australia, China, Germany, Japan, the UK and US. The project is
considered one of the most technically and scientifically ambitious and physically demanding projects in the Antarctic to date, the researchers said
in a statement. AGAP is being financed and managed by the national Antarctic operators from the six countries involved.
'This is both an exciting and challenging project. It is a bit like preparing to go to Mars,' highlighted Dr Fausto Ferraccioli from the British
Antarctic Survey (BAS), one of the participating institutes. 'Because of IPY, scientists from six countries are working together to do the
unthinkable, to explore the deep interior of East Antarctica — one of the last frontier regions of our planet,' he explained. 'For two and half
months, our international teams will pool their resources and expertise to survey mountains the size of the Alps buried under the ice sheet that
currently defy any reasonable geological explanation.'
The team is also on a quest to find ice that is over 1.2 million years old, he said. 'Locked in this ancient ice is a detailed record of past climate
change that will assist in making better predications for our future,' Dr Ferraccioli said.
With respect to the Gamburtsev mountains, no human has ever actually seen them. They extend for over 1 200 km and rise to heights of more than 3 000
metres, but are covered by 600-metre thick ice. In order to tackle this puzzle, Chinese, Japanese and US researchers will use seismology to assess the
deeper structure under these mountains. It should be noted that the researchers will generate a four-dimensional history of the evolution of the
Gamburtsev mountains.
Scientists commonly believe that the subglacial mountains are the birthplace of the vast East Antarctic ice sheet, the team said. The work involved in
this project will offer everyone insight into how the mountains were formed and provide scientists with the most ideal site for future ice core
drilling campaigns, the statement read.
Meanwhile, the equipment used in this project will also develop a three-dimensional view of the hidden region. BAS has teamed up with the German
Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) and the US-based National Science Foundation (NSF) to use aircraft that is equipped with
ice-penetrating radar, magnetic sensors and gravimeters.
'There's an amazing history of our planet locked in Antarctica's ice and rocks,' noted Professor Nicholas Owens, head of BAS. 'It's only now
that we have the technology to start uncovering the secrets from this unique natural laboratory. This is really big science and it can be done only by
working with partners from other national Antarctic programmes,' he said.