For over half a century, a vast mountain range has remained hidden beneath Antarctica’s frozen heart. Now, scientists have finally cracked the geological code behind the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains—a Himalayan-scale formation entombed beneath kilometers of ice for over 500 million years.
The discovery sheds new light on how Earth’s ancient supercontinents formed, why East Antarctica has stayed stable for eons, and what secrets still lie frozen beneath the ice.
What Lies Beneath: Mountains No One Has Ever Seen
The Gamburtsev Mountains are the size of the European Alps, but entirely invisible—buried beneath the thickest part of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. First discovered in 1958 by Soviet scientists using seismic equipment, they’ve baffled geologists ever since.
“These mountains aren’t supposed to be here,” say researchers from the University of Tasmania and Macquarie University. “East Antarctica has been tectonically quiet for hundreds of millions of years.”
So how did they form?
The Answer: A 650-Million-Year-Old Collision
New research published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters reveals that the Gamburtsev Mountains were born during the collision of ancient continental plates as Gondwana began to form—a supercontinent that once combined Africa, South America, Antarctica, Australia, and India.
The study explains that when these crustal blocks collided:
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Hot, molten rock surged beneath the Earth’s crust
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The crust thickened and rose, forming a towering range
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It eventually collapsed under its own weight, but left behind a thick crustal “root” embedded deep in the mantle
This geological footprint stayed intact—and frozen—preserved by Antarctic ice for half a billion years.
Time Capsules in the Ice: What Zircon Crystals Reveal
To map the mountain timeline, scientists turned to zircon grains—tiny crystals in sandstone, carried by rivers that once flowed from the mountains. These crystals act as geological time capsules, preserving uranium that decays at a predictable rate.
Findings:
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The mountains rose around 650 million years ago
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They hit their peak by 580 million years ago
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They experienced crustal melting and gravitational collapse by 500 million years ago
Unlike most mountain ranges, which are worn down by erosion or tectonic upheaval, the Gamburtsev range has been cryogenically preserved—a pristine relic from Earth’s deep past.
Big Discovery
This breakthrough not only solves one of Antarctica’s greatest geological puzzles, but:
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Confirms the mountain-building role of Gondwana
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Explains why Antarctica’s interior is so stable
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Provides new targets for future ice drilling missions
Rock samples near the Denman Glacier may be directly linked to the buried range. If confirmed, they could help reconstruct the subglacial map of East Antarctica—one of the last unexplored frontiers on Earth.
Beneath Antarctica’s icy surface lies a secret that rewrites geologic history. With cutting-edge science and ancient zircon crystals, researchers have unlocked the origin of a hidden mountain range that predates the dinosaurs—and may yet hold more clues to Earth’s formation.
