Data from a NASA airborne science mission reveals evidence
of a large and previously unknown canyon hidden under a mile of Greenland ice.
The canyon has the characteristics of a winding river
channel and is at least 460 miles (750 kilometers) long, making it longer than
the Grand Canyon. In some places, it is as deep as 2,600 feet (800 meters), on
scale with segments of the Grand Canyon. This immense feature is thought to
predate the ice sheet that has covered Greenland for the last few million
years.
"One might assume that the landscape of the Earth has
been fully explored and mapped," said Jonathan Bamber, professor of
physical geography at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, and lead
author of the study. "Our research shows there's still a lot left to
discover."