A hidden world emerges under the southern ice, and it changes the stakes. A new atlas maps the seafloor with a clarity that rewrites what we thought we knew. The work reveals vast structures and a complex architecture that shape water, ice, and climate. Inside this network, canyons act as critical pathways. The findings raise urgent questions about ocean circulation, melting from below, and future sea-level rise.
A continent-wide map that resets the baseline
The atlas compiles high-resolution bathymetric data from more than 40 expeditions. Teams built the first standardized map across the entire Antarctic margin, which reduces gaps and improves consistency. Collecting sonar beneath floating ice shelves remained hard, so many features stayed hidden.
Now, researchers identify 332 previously unmapped underwater valleys. Some plunge beyond 4,000 meters. They channel sediments, nutrients, and water between the shelf and the deep ocean. Their size and complexity rival the planet’s largest submarine systems.
“We now have a coherent view across the Antarctic margin,” said Dr. David Amblàs. The map, published in Marine Geology and led by the University of Barcelona with University College Cork, offers the most detailed view to date. It sets a new reference for future surveys, modelers, and risk assessors who need accurate topography to trace water and heat.
How canyons steer Antarctic waters
These features act like conduits that link the shelf to the abyss. Dense, salty water forms on the shelf and sinks along the slopes, then flows into the deep Southern Ocean. That movement helps drive thermohaline circulation, which regulates global temperature patterns and nutrient delivery.
At the same time, warm deep layers can climb upslope through the canyons. That upslope flow reaches under ice shelves and accelerates basal melting. The exchange sets how heat meets the ice and how fresh melt escapes into the ocean.
As Dr. Alan Condron explains, the process is central, not marginal. It controls how quickly heat penetrates vulnerable ice and how efficiently the system vents the resulting freshwater. Understanding this exchange matters because small changes in pathways can change melt rates. Those changes then ripple through currents and alter climate feedbacks far from Antarctica.
Two Antarctic stories written in the seafloor
The atlas shows a strong contrast between East and West. In the east, networks are branched and extensive, with tributaries that feed a main path. That pattern points to a long, stable history under persistent ice sheets.
In the west, valleys appear steeper, straighter, and shorter. The shape fits more episodic and recent glacial activity. Models that show West Antarctica as more dynamic, and more exposed to rapid change, align with this geometry.
Researchers use these differences to refine timelines of ice flow. As Dr. Condron notes, the structure helps “reconstruct the ice flow history,” so teams can test how fast change might unfold. The shapes also set how water can move now. That is why the west, with its straighter routes, may channel heat more directly. Those pathways, and the canyons that define them, raise the risk of faster retreat under warming.
Feeding models with canyons detail changes projections
Many climate models once treated the Antarctic seafloor as smooth. That simplification muted how topography shapes currents, sediment, and ice–ocean contact. The new atlas changes the inputs. Scientists can now add shape, depth, orientation, and connectivity to simulations.
With better geometry, models can estimate where warm water will reach the shelf and how meltwater will spread. They can also test how quickly inland ice loss might reach the ocean and raise seas. This step matters because cities plan on timelines, not generalities. When models capture real channels and thresholds, risk estimates improve.
The atlas also supports process studies that track mixing and stratification in key sectors. Because the network is standardized, teams can compare regions on equal terms. That uniformity will help target field campaigns and reduce uncertainty where it is largest for policy.
What this atlas unlocks for past and future change
Beyond near-term risks, the map opens a window on deep time. The seafloor preserves traces of ice and ocean dynamics over millions of years. By pairing this geometry with cores and geophysics, researchers can refine the chronology of advances and retreats. That work clarifies how the system responded to past warming.
It also tests thresholds that could matter now. The atlas highlights where data remain thin, especially under large shelves. Future missions can focus on those gaps with autonomous vehicles and improved sonar.
Teams will also tie circulation models to biological pathways, since nutrients and carbon move along these routes. Because the canyons organize both heat and life, filling the blind spots will pay off twice. The project sets a foundation for a sustained, international effort that links mapping, modeling, and decision-ready forecasts.
Why this matters now for oceans, cities, and choices
The map does more than redraw lines on the seafloor. It points to how heat can reach ice faster, and how fresh water can change density layers. Those shifts can slow, or at times speed, the global overturning.
They also influence regional weather patterns and marine ecosystems. Coastal planners need clear, defensible numbers on sea-level rise. With this geometry, teams can test rates of loss tied to specific pathways and thresholds.
The atlas also frames a practical to-do list: instrument key routes, monitor shelf formation events, and observe melt plumes. Because the network spans the entire margin, collaboration becomes easier. Shared standards mean results compare cleanly. As data flow into models, early warnings should arrive sooner. That lead time helps communities act before small changes become locked in.
A forward-looking takeaway about risks, maps, and momentum
This atlas reveals structure that will shape choices for decades. With a clearer view of canyons, scientists can track how heat moves, how ice responds, and how seas may rise. The work lays out where to measure, what to simulate, and when to expect change. It also shows why details matter. When paths are real, forecasts gain power, and decisions gain time.
I’m betting that THESE scientists parents wish they hadn’t wasted all their money on educating halfwits.
Do you have a clue what is being discussed? Hopefully you aren’t one of the idiots who won’t understand Anthropogenic Rapid Global Climate Warming is a real thing that will mess up everything.
Lol oh my God we only have 10 years left before cities are under water lol. In the 90’s WE ONLY HAVE 10 YEARS LEFT in the 2000s WE ONLY HAVE 10 YEARS LEFT in the 2010s WE ONLY HAVE 10 YEARS LEFT in the 2020s WE ONLY HAVE 10 YEARS LEFT meanwhile pelosi obummer etc all the lefty climate change elites have all recently bought 10 plus million dollar homes on the ocean seems like a stupid investment they will be under water in 10 years uhm 🤔 🤣 billy gates the vaccine specialist says he buys carbon offsets 🤣 so he doesn’t have to stop contributing to global warming 🤣 be scared be very scared also dont forget to get your 5th vax and 10th booster hurry 🤣
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆💋
So just checking its only the left thats buying property? Seems like someone put their maga hat on before posting this, to explain how the left is destroying the world and the right is here to fix it. I hope you’re the first to drown, as most likely when you find out your daddy trump isn’t going to pull you to safety.
Unfortunately most of the “usual crowd” do not understand 1/2 of what they read and can’t really read all the words of the other 1/2 of what they pretend to read.
There’s a reason I do not bother responding to kool-aid drinking bobbleheads who suffered some sort of brain poisoning from the red chinese dye in the $50 political hats. And that reason is because they only know what they are told. But those same very pale skinned “people” cry all the time about the increased storms that keep setting records and are now yearly storms instead of 100 year storms.
Some people would drink salt water and use Gatorade on their crops if some orange sprayed guy told them to. The rest of us can actually think and comprehend actual science and understand that REAL experts are not the ones mollycoddling those who attend family reunions to find a spouse.
I appreciate this and thank you for your hard work 🙏 we are Blessed
I am amazed at this discovery and scientific study assessment . The possible impact on climate change melting ice and rising of sea levels due to the gigantic system of underwater canyons . truly great shared knowledge! Thank you scientists!
Second post: extraordinary discovery grateful thanks for this sharing !
Look at the rings on Poliskie face she will be gone in less than 2 yrs along with the rest of you squirrels.
Pelosi and squirrels have nothing to do with OBJECTIVE REALITY, micro plastics, PFAS, and CO2 levels approaching 500 PPM, which over twice as high as has ever been seen through empirically corroborated core sampling, scientific data does adhere to any political party and it’s independent of the nationalistic ideology, to the pessimistic jaded and cynical person that commented above, I would just say that to ignore all this data is titled. Abuse of the highest order is essentially like condoning the behavior of a really bad crackhead or a methamphetamine addict where it’s just like. Yeah just keep on living in denial and smoking crack 24/7, No problems here, substance abuse disorder is very analogous to fossil fuel addiction, the REAL data will not change when “Nancy pelosi” passes, Holy Mary Mother of God, Nancy sure did become One misconstrued polarizing scape goat for the megalomaniacal mega Marauders
Been really cloudy lately. Water vapor creating a canopy, reflecting light from the sun. We will be in an ice age soon. Also, the biggest changer of weather patterns is the SUN. You know, big orange ball we revolve around. (NOT EVOLVE AROUND)
As I’ve grown older in life and spent my years observing how every nation of power on this planet has done nothing but establish governments that do nothing but Lie..deceive.. control and keep hidden knowledge and information from all of us.. I’ve learned to not believe anything im told by any political powers or their government paid scientist.. Answer me this..Why did those 50 something nations all come together and sign a territory treaty to ban all people from entering or exploring unauthorized areas of Antarctica if they didn’t already know the things that are there? They have always known everything about Antarctica but kept it from us..They are lying to us now like always.. Also for all of you that believe in global warming..it isn’t because the ice is melting..it’s because our government has cut down all the trees and covered our planet in concrete and asphalt as well as all the concrete cities with all the factories and mechanical devices and machines that constantly put off heat around the clock and never cool down..have you ever stepped on hot asphalt in a parking lot barefoot.. it will blister your feet.. natural dirt doesn’t get that hot and cools down as it gets dark..it is covering our planet in asphalt and concrete cities with billions on cars with hot engines traveling 24 hours a day is why the earth is getting hotter..the earth is meant to be covered in dirt not black tar asphalt.. also our government has damned up and re routed every river on our planet..They re route the rainfall by building storm drains to collect the rain water so they can direct it through pipe systems to places that are by peoples design..When by natures design the rain should fall and flow naturally to the places its meant to flow to prevent droughts and to cool the ground after a hot day.. But our government has redesigned the entire natural process of mother nature..So global warming is our government covering the earth in asphalt that does not cool down.. Also they lie when they tell you the oceans will rise if the glaciers melt..The water level will stay the same because the glacier floating in the ocean has the same as frozen as it does melted..the water has already risen from the glacier being in the water.. If you make a glass of iced tea and the ice melts while in the glass of tea..the level of tea in the glass doesn’t change..the only difference is the ice melted and no longer solid
DONT TOUCH ANYTHING LEAVE IT ALONE! Everything these sickos touch they destroy leave earth and Mother Nature alone thanks