Deeper than the Grand Canyon: massive trench found under Antarctica's ice

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Christian Science Monitor:

An enormous valley – deeper than the Grand Canyon and hosting a floor that dips more than two kilometers below sea level in places – lurks beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, researchers have discovered.

 

The valley, known as the Ellsworth Trough, was discovered by a team of scientists in Britain. They've been mapping a highland region under the ice sheet to better understand where the sheet originated and how far, under a warming climate, it might retreat in the distant future before it stabilizes.

 

The region, known as the Ellsworth Subglacial Highlands, sits on the continent near the base of the Antarctic Peninsula. The highlands form a Continental Divide-like boundary that sends ice into either the Weddell or Amundsen Seas, on either side of the peninsula.

 

 

The newly discovered valley is 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) across at its widest point, stretching for some 325 kilometers.