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EARTH: Unearthing Antarctica's mysterious mountains

February 7th, 2012

Buried more than a kilometer beneath the East Antarctica Ice sheet, the Gamburstev Subglacial Mountains have proven to be a geological puzzle for more than 5 decades. How did these mountains form? When did they form? And what makes this ancient mountain range one of the least-understood tectonic features on Earth?

The Gamburstevs lie under the highest point in Antarctica: the 4,000-meter-high Dome Argus Plateau. The mountain range, in the middle of an ancient continental craton, has a thick, crustal root and high topography. Locked under the ice, frozen in time, what secrets could the Gamburstevs reveal about the evolution of our planet? Look below the ice and read the rest of the story available online here http://www.earthmagazine.org/article/unearthing-antarcticas-mysterious-mountains.

Read this story and more in the February issue of EARTH Magazine, available online now at http://www.earthmagazine.org/. Learn how minute particles in our atmosphere affect clouds and rainfall; unlock the mystery to the moon's magnetism; and read about boron, EARTH's mineral resource of the month.

Provided by American Geological Institute

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