Huge canyon discovered under Greenland ice

[Eugene]

Source: BBC

29 August 2013 Last updated at 18:00 GMT

Huge canyon discovered under Greenland ice

By Roger Harrabin
Environment analyst

One of the biggest canyons in the world has been found beneath the ice sheet that smothers most of Greenland.

The canyon - which is 800km long and up to 800m deep - was carved out by a great river more than four million years ago, before the ice arrived.

It was discovered by accident as scientists researching climate change mapped Greenland’s bedrock by radar.

The British Antarctic Survey said it was remarkable to find so huge a geographical feature previously unseen.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23866810

[BlueJazz]

1. Great. By the time I'm middle-age, I'll be able to raft down it.

[Mnemosyne]

2. As more of the ice caps melt, I wonder what more will be found. Could be even more interesting. nt

[Scuba]

3. The vast universe of our collective ignorance just got a teensy bit smaller.

[Surya Gayatri]

4. Unfortunately, it may be revealed in all its glory sooner than we might expect.

[BarbaRosa]

5. I imagine there are a lot of interesting things

under the ice on both Greenland and Iceland.

[Enthusiast]

6. Vast fossil fuel fields, precious and rare elements.

We can also expect to find incredible fossils from the Carboniferous and Mesozoic eras.

[dembotoz]

7. this should make me happy

but i am not

[Enthusiast]

8. Just imagine the mineral wealth under

Antarctic ice.

We're talking about a massive continent's worth of geological history. And we already know from fossils that dinosaurs inhabited Antarctica.

People forget how oil rich North America was in the late 19th Century. Pennsylvania, Ohio and Texas were just loaded with oil. And the amount of coal that has already been removed from Ohio and Pennsylvania just staggers the imagination. Areas of Greenland and Antarctica could be similar.

[Capt13]

9. Plenty of Fresh Oil to Drink

Coal to Eat and Natural gas to air condition our Rafts with.

[annabanana]

10. bingo . . . .

and welcome to DU.

[Enthusiast]

11. Exactly...........nt