- 14 hours ago
A giant hole has opened beneath Antarctica’s ice, and what researchers found inside is raising disturbing questions. Deep below the frozen surface, strange traces appear to point to something far older than modern civilization. If these markings are real, Antarctica may have been hiding evidence of an ancient world buried long before history began.
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00:00Do you know that NASA explores not only stars, planets, galaxies, or black holes?
00:05Hard to believe, but yes.
00:07The agency also works on discoveries here on our home planet Earth.
00:12So what has NASA recently discovered?
00:14Is there life under the ice?
00:17While they were analyzing data recently,
00:20they discovered something unbelievable hiding under Antarctica's ice.
00:24And this discovery not only changes everything we know about the whole water system of the Earth,
00:30but it may also help with research about life and space.
00:35Humankind's existence might depend on understanding Antarctica and its secrets.
00:40So, the recent discoveries reveal vital information about our survival.
00:45But before we continue, let's see how much you know about this place,
00:49where it's only ice as far as your eyes can see.
00:54Antarctica is one of the world's seven continents in the Southern Hemisphere.
00:58It's the fifth largest continent in terms of total area,
01:01and that means it's almost twice the size of Australia.
01:06Want to see real meteorites?
01:07Go to Antarctica!
01:09Due to its dry climate,
01:11Antarctica is one of the best places to observe space.
01:15But what's even greater
01:16is that you can find meteorites on the white surface of the continent.
01:20Scientists have already plucked about 45,000 meteorites from the ice,
01:25and they think they can see another 300,000.
01:28Since there aren't many terrestrial rocks there,
01:30it's easy for them to spot them thanks to their dark color.
01:34Antarctica's dry desert environment also helps preserve them,
01:38even the ones that fell to Earth more than one million years ago.
01:41And can you imagine any volcanic activity in Antarctica?
01:46It's hard.
01:48But this place is where fire meets the ice.
01:52West Antarctica is where most volcanic activity occurs.
01:57Scientists recently found that 138 volcanoes exist in West Antarctica alone.
02:03Wow!
02:05You would think that Antarctica is always cold.
02:08But no!
02:09Its coastal regions can get as warm as 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
02:14But have you ever wondered what Antarctica would look like if there were no ice?
02:20It may seem unimaginable now,
02:22but it was not always covered by ice.
02:25That was 34 million years ago, though.
02:27So nobody could tell how the continent's surface would be without the ice.
02:32But NASA changed that.
02:34They generated computer simulations
02:36and created the most accurate map of it as of today.
02:40What they saw was incredible.
02:43The continent was not flat at all like it seemed.
02:46It's pretty bumpy with valleys, rolling plains, and high mountains.
02:52But this was nothing next to what they had discovered under Antarctica's ice.
02:58So, what is it?
03:00Drum roll, please.
03:02NASA found two new subglacial lakes.
03:06And what's even cooler about it is that they spotted these lakes from space.
03:11How is that?
03:13If your answer is high-tech satellites, then you're right.
03:17In 2003, NASA launched a satellite called IceSat.
03:22It measured ice sheet mass balance and cloud and aerosol heights.
03:28The satellite also helped create the ice-free map of Antarctica.
03:32In 2010, the European Space Agency launched the second satellite, CryoSat-2.
03:39It was for tracking the changes in the thickness of the ice.
03:43Then, in 2018, NASA launched the third one, IceSat-2, a follow-on to the IceSat spacecraft.
03:50It measured ice sheet elevation and sea ice thickness.
03:55It was NASA's most advanced Earth-observing laser instrument.
03:59It delivered the highest precision data.
04:03And when that was combined with the data from the other satellites,
04:06it was possible to spot these two new lakes near a pair of larger ones.
04:12But how is it possible that these lakes exist in the first place?
04:17The average thickness of most Antarctica ice is approximately 1.2 miles.
04:22However, it can get over 1.8 miles thick in some places, especially during the winter.
04:29So, you might think that there's nothing under there.
04:32But science says otherwise.
04:36It's not quite possible to see it with your bare eyes.
04:39But the continent's ice is slowly but constantly flowing in different directions under the force of its weight.
04:46But scientists could not figure out how water moved for many years.
04:51That started to change in 2007, when data gathered from the IceSat provided insight into what hides beneath the surface.
04:59They first discovered an entire network of meltwater lakes connected under Antarctica's fast-flowing ice streams.
05:07And there were hundreds of them.
05:10Scripps Institution of Oceanography glaciologist Helen Amanda Fricker
05:14figured that the elevation changes measured by IceSat happened because of the dynamics of these lakes.
05:21They did not hold meltwater statically.
05:23Instead, they were filling and draining continuously over time through a system of waterways.
05:29And as they did that, the ice above rose and fell.
05:34But where do they drain?
05:37The ocean, of course.
05:38And it drains a lot.
05:41A recent study, co-authored by Fricker,
05:44found that the drainage of one lake flushed as much as 198 billion gallons into the ocean in only three
05:50days.
05:52Countless mysteries about how nature works are still waiting to be solved.
05:56But finding the two new lakes will give scientists a better picture of how fast the Antarctic ice sheet will
06:02change as the climate gets warmer
06:03and how this will affect global ocean currents and sea level rise.
06:08The filling and draining cycle of the lakes also cause the ice sheet to suffer cracks and crevices.
06:13So, the information they find from these new lakes will also give them a better understanding of the damage on
06:20the surface of the ice.
06:22They will also be able to assess how this filling and draining system influences the speed at which ice slips
06:29into the oceans and seas.
06:30And that means they can evaluate how the added freshwater may alter marine ecosystems.
06:36This discovery may also suggest whether life is under the ice.
06:41Wow!
06:42Scientists drilled through about 3,504 feet of ice and found that water samples taken from one of the lakes
06:49contained approximately 10,000 bacterial cells per milliliter.
06:53Such a high number of bacterial life is a good sign because that means the icy waters might also support
07:01higher life forms such as micro-animals.
07:03And one of these new lakes might even be their home.
07:08But the most exciting thing is that the new lakes might help them understand whether life on other planets is
07:14possible.
07:16Scientists believe any life below the frozen surface of the planet Mars might follow the patterns seen in Antarctica's lakes.
07:23So, there is a possibility that they might find critical new information on the type of life that may have
07:29existed on the red planet.
07:31You wouldn't want to be there during the winter, though.
07:35The lowest temperature on Earth you can experience is negative 128 degrees Fahrenheit.
07:40In 2010, there was an even lower temperature of negative 135 degrees Fahrenheit.
07:46You may feel this cold much worse due to the strong and dry winds.
07:51Did you know that the size of the ice surface on Antarctica also changes throughout the year?
07:58It's about 1.2 million square miles during the summer.
08:01But when it's winter, it grows to 7.3 million square miles.
08:07Yet, despite the change, it remains the largest piece of ice on Earth.
08:11Sorry, Arctic, you lose.
08:14Do you know these cute little penguins?
08:16Consider these animals the locals because there is no native population in Antarctica.
08:22It's a no-man's land because no single country owns it.
08:27But do you know who really owns it?
08:28Five different species of penguins, seals, and killer whales.
08:33Ha ha!
08:34Despite the continent's harsh conditions, you can visit it as a tourist for fishing and research purposes.
08:41Around 5,000 people reside on the continent during summer at research stations.
08:45But when winter comes, the number naturally drops down to 1,000.
08:50Antarctica's ice blanket makes up 70% of the world's freshwater reserves.
08:55Imagine what would happen if it melted.
08:57The global sea levels would be raised by almost 200 feet.
09:02So what comes to your mind when you hear the word Antarctica?
09:06Most likely, cold, snow, ice, and penguins.
09:10Yet, this is one of the least explored regions in the world that hides many strange and unique things.
09:16Check them out!
09:17You don't have to go to Antarctica to see this weird thing.
09:20All you need to do is open Google Earth and move to one of the southernmost islands of Antarctica, King
09:27George Island.
09:28Recently, internet users have noticed a large and pretty strange cave entrance there.
09:33Where does this wide, dark passage lead?
09:36People started making suggestions.
09:38It's the entrance to a secret base or some laboratory.
09:42This is the part of the spaceship that crashed there thousands of years ago.
09:46This is the door to the ancient city of Antarctica.
09:50Perhaps there's a giant rock mountain with an ancient cave beneath all this snow and ice.
09:55Well, there's some ideas.
09:57Users have calculated the approximate dimensions of this cave.
10:01It might be about 74 feet high and 250 feet wide.
10:06You could hide a Boeing passenger jet in there.
10:09Nature probably created this entrance.
10:11This is a logical explanation, but there are two strange factors.
10:15First, take a look at the foot of the mountain.
10:18It seems that there are steps there.
10:20They're dark in color, as if they're made of stone.
10:23And if you look closely, you can notice something similar to human footprints.
10:28Has anyone entered this cave?
10:30Or maybe someone is still living there now?
10:33The second oddity is the disappearance of the mysterious finding.
10:37For the first time, people noticed it in a Google Maps snap in 2007.
10:42Then the entrance disappeared.
10:45Then it reappeared a few years later.
10:48After that, it vanished.
10:49And in 2022, people saw it again.
10:53Perhaps old snow melts, a new layer falls,
10:56and then the wind blows it away, and the cycle repeats.
11:00But the alleged steps leading deep into the cave
11:03make one doubt the natural origin of this tunnel.
11:06You can easily find the coordinates on the internet
11:09and visit the cave via Google Earth.
11:11You might see something there and tell the world.
11:15There's another strange thing people discovered with the help of Google Earth.
11:18In 2020, one user found a strange object
11:22that looked like a giant ship 100 miles off the coast of Antarctica.
11:27It was covered with ice and snow and lying on its side.
11:30It looked like a cruise ship.
11:32You could notice the windows, the deck, and the bridge.
11:35But not all people agreed with this.
11:38Some claimed it was a spaceship.
11:40Others said it was some kind of secret building.
11:43The user who first noticed the ship
11:46stated that its size was about 400 feet,
11:49which is the perfect length for a passenger vessel.
11:52But what is this ship doing in such a remote place
11:55in the middle of a glacier?
11:57How did it get here?
11:58Who was its captain?
12:00No one has found the answers to these questions yet.
12:04In 2016, people using Google Earth
12:07discovered a photo of an unknown sea monster
12:09floating off the coast of Antarctica.
12:11This creature resembled a giant squid
12:14with a length of about 200 feet.
12:17This is slightly shorter than three train cars.
12:20Just imagine this kraken swimming in Antarctica's dark, icy waters
12:24and dragging to the bottom everything it meets on its way.
12:28Maybe it's the great and terrible Chulu
12:31or one of its offspring.
12:33You will quickly notice this blood-red waterfall
12:36among Antarctica's endless, dazzling white landscapes.
12:39Don't worry, it's not blood.
12:42For many centuries, the waterfall has been painting snow
12:45in a bright red color.
12:47The stream flows straight out of a white iceberg.
12:50Let's look inside and find out what's happening there.
12:53Millions of years ago, there was a small crystal-clear pond.
12:57But then, a glacier formed around it.
12:59A thick layer of ice and snow blocks sunlight, heat, and oxygen access.
13:05For millennia, the reservoir remained in this cold vacuum.
13:09But at one point, the water made a hole in the icy wall and broke out.
13:14When this salty water comes into contact with oxygen,
13:17it immediately turns scarlet or rusty.
13:20Antarctica is the only place where you can find such a unique natural phenomenon.
13:26One of the driest places on Earth is located in Antarctica.
13:30It's one of the most lifeless deserts in the world, the McMurdo Dry Valleys.
13:34In this desert, you won't see the scorching sun, hot sand, and cacti.
13:39A desert means a place with a lack of precipitation and life.
13:43The McMurdo Dry Valleys meet these parameters.
13:46But this place is also unique for Antarctica,
13:49since you won't find glaciers there.
13:51Despite the frost, ice can't form in the desert
13:54because it hasn't rained for millions of years there.
13:57It also never snows.
13:59A strong wind coming from the mountains reaches speeds up to 200 miles per hour.
14:04It would be difficult for you to stay on your feet there.
14:07The wind is filled with moisture.
14:08It heats up and evaporates all the liquid and snow in the desert because of its high speed.
14:14Only dry air reaches the ground.
14:17But you can find several lakes there.
14:19They don't freeze, only thanks to the high concentration of salt.
14:23The water is so salty that large life forms can't develop there.
14:27But scientists have found microscopic organisms near the lakes.
14:3220 million years ago, Antarctica was filled with swamps and trees
14:36and swarming with insects and animals.
14:38But now, it resembles the surface of Mars, literally.
14:43Scientists and astronauts are exploring such regions as the McMurdo Dry Valleys,
14:47since the natural conditions there are similar to those on the Red Planet.
14:52So, before you go to Mars, you can practice living in similar places on Earth.
14:57Also, scientists discovered an underwater world in the Antarctic
15:01filled with hundreds of amphipods, crustacean animals similar to shrimp.
15:06Wait a minute.
15:07It happened in the Antarctic?
15:09But the McMurdo Dry Valleys are located in Antarctica.
15:12Well, the words are very similar, but what is the difference?
15:16Oh, and don't forget the Arctic.
15:18The Antarctic is the region in the southernmost part of Earth
15:22that houses the continent of Antarctica.
15:24And the Arctic is another land altogether.
15:27They have the same natural conditions, frost, ice, and snow.
15:31But they're located in different parts of the planet.
15:34The Arctic is at the North Pole.
15:36Antarctica is at the South Pole.
15:38Now, back to the discovery.
15:40Scientists put forward theories that the ice of the Antarctic
15:44hides a vast network of freshwater rivers and lakes.
15:47And in 2022, they found a new ecosystem.
15:51Researchers explored the Antarctic Ross Ice Shelf and its underwater rivers.
15:56This is a massive piece of ice floating in the ocean.
15:59A team from New Zealand used a special drilling rig equipped with a hot water supply
16:04to drill a hole 1,640 feet deep.
16:07That's more than the height of the Empire State Building.
16:10Then, they lowered some video cameras and saw thousands of crustaceans swimming in different directions.
16:16So it seems they're very unorganized.
16:19In the waters of the Antarctic, you can also meet some of the scariest creatures on the planet.
16:24These are sea spiders.
16:26They got this name because they resemble land spiders.
16:29But they're actually a species of marine arthropods.
16:33And unlike land spiders, those in the ocean are much larger.
16:37They look like eight strong legs without a body.
16:40One such spider can be a dinner plate in width.
16:43Some of them have no eyes and have proboscis instead of jaws.
16:47Sea spiders are poorly studied because they live in deep, cold waters.
16:52Antarctica hides many little-known animals.
16:54There are long tunnels in its glaciers, leading to scary darkness.
16:59On this cold continent, people have found the remains of giant dinosaurs and other ancient creatures,
17:05such as the ancestors of modern ducks.
17:08Many underground rivers and lakes hide unexplored wildlife.
17:12Even the ice here can be weird.
17:14Take a look at these striped icebergs.
17:17They have blue, black, green, and turquoise shapes.
17:20The color depends on the conditions of the water during freezing.
17:23For example, green lines appear because of algae.
17:27Blue ones form when the water freezes too quickly.
17:30Okay, I'm freezing.
17:32Time to go thaw somewhere warmer.
17:34Hawaii.
17:35Yeah.
17:37Ooh, mysterious mountain ranges hidden under thousands of tons of ice.
17:42Bizarre, transparent creatures with see-through skin, singing snowplanes.
17:48Antarctica has its own terrifying secrets.
17:50And now, a mysterious ice hole the size of Switzerland that keeps popping open.
17:56And scientists have finally figured out why.
17:59This hole, called the Maud-Rise-Polygnia, was first spotted in 1974 and 1976 in the Weddell Sea.
18:08Since then, it's been kind of playing hard to get.
18:12Sometimes it appears.
18:13Sometimes it disappears for years.
18:16And when it does show up, it mysteriously changes size.
18:20For decades, researchers were trying to figure out what makes it form.
18:25Then, in 2016 and 2017, the Pollygnia went absolutely massive.
18:31More than 30,000 square miles.
18:34The hole stuck around for several weeks during winters.
18:37It was the first time since the 1970s that the Weddell Sea had such a huge, long-lasting Pollygnia.
18:45Here's the deal with Antarctic sea ice.
18:47In summer, the ice is at its smallest.
18:50Around 1 million square miles.
18:53Yeah, that's considered small.
18:55By winter, it spreads to a whopping 7 million square miles.
18:59Covering about 4% of Earth's surface in weird white tiles.
19:04Most of this ice grows during the weeks-long polar night on the floating ice shelves around the continent.
19:10These holes in the ice, called Pollygnias, usually form when strong winds from inland push the ice tiles apart.
19:19That same cold wind also freezes more seawater inside the hole, adding extra chunks to the ice sheet.
19:26But the Maude-Rise, Pollygnia, isn't near the coast, where those winds normally help make holes.
19:32Out in the open ocean, holes like this are rare.
19:37Add in the fact that ice across the southern ocean has been shrinking.
19:41No wonder scientists are left bewildered.
19:44What exact conditions are creating this stubborn giant ice hole?
19:48To crack the mystery, the scientists dove into a mountain of data.
19:53Satellites, floating sensors, even info from tagged marine animals.
19:58Plus, they had years of past observations from other researchers.
20:02And they found something unusual.
20:05In 2016 and 2017, the Weddell Sea's circular ocean current, called the Weddell Gyre, was stronger than usual.
20:13That extra punch made it easier for salty, warmer water from deep below to reach the surface.
20:20The Maude-Rise Pollygnia sits above an underwater mountain called Maude-Rise.
20:26During those big Pollygnia years, the stronger current caused salt to gather around this submerged peak.
20:33On the surface, the wind whipped over the ice, creating a corkscrew effect.
20:38It literally pulled that salty water up from below.
20:42The extra salt lowered the freezing point of the surface water, allowing the Maude-Rise Pollygnia to form and stick
20:49around.
20:51Pollygnias are really important for the planet.
20:53The dense, salty water formed in these holes can travel huge distances, spreading across the global ocean and affecting climates
21:01everywhere.
21:02But these magnificent holes aren't the only cool and mysterious phenomena Antarctica is famous for.
21:09How about underground lakes?
21:12Or, shall I say, under-ice lakes?
21:14Because there are entire lakes hidden under Antarctica's thick ice.
21:19Scientists first found them back in 1970, using radar.
21:23And now they think there are around 400 lakes tucked under around 2 miles of ice in the explored areas.
21:30These lakes likely formed after Antarctica broke off from Gondwanda Land, the ancient supercontinent.
21:38Surprisingly, the water in the lakes doesn't freeze because the ice above presses down too hard.
21:45Hey, it's physics, bro!
21:47The biggest of them all is Lake Vastok, discovered in the 1990s.
21:52It sits a bit more than 2 miles below the ice.
21:55Scientists have drilled down to take samples, and the water they pulled up was about 26 degrees Fahrenheit,
22:02even though the lake had been trapped under ice for over 20 million years.
22:07There's also Lake Williams.
22:10In 2014, scientists made a lit discovery there.
22:14They found a thriving colony of microorganisms nearly a mile under the ice.
22:20Those tiny creatures never saw sunlight or fresh air.
22:23Instead, they used methane and ammonium as energy to grow.
22:29Another marvel hides in plain sight in the McMurdo Dry Valley.
22:33It's a waterfall that looks like something straight out of a horror movie.
22:38Bright crimson water, like blood gushing from a wound in the ice,
22:43pours down 5 stories from Taylor Glacier into Lake Bonny.
22:47Ooh, spooky.
22:48But there's actually a scientific reason behind it.
22:51The water that feeds blood falls used to be part of a salty lake.
22:56Now, it's completely cut off from the atmosphere because glaciers formed on top of it.
23:02Tracked more than 1,300 feet underground, the water has become super salty,
23:07three times saltier than seawater, and it can't freeze.
23:11This underground water is also packed with iron and completely lacks oxygen in sunlight.
23:17When it slowly seeps through a crack in the glacier and hits the open air,
23:22the iron oxidizes, basically rusts, and turns the water that eerie dark red.
23:28With such creepy landscapes, Antarctica might look like a frozen wasteland.
23:34Freezing cold, almost no rain, and winds that could knock you off your feet.
23:39The coldest Earth's temperatures ever was recorded there, minus 128.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
23:47And still, Antarctica is actually home to some seriously bizarre wildlife.
23:52For the longest time, scientists thought nothing could survive under all that ice.
23:58Turns out, they were very wrong.
24:01There are all sorts of creatures that have adapted to the brutal environment.
24:05Tiny microbes, crustaceans, colossal squid, and spiders so big, their legs could cover a dinner plate.
24:13Giant worms with shiny golden bristles and huge sharp-toothed jaws also lurk under the ice.
24:20And then, there's the ice fish, a completely see-through fish with huge eyes and organs you can literally see
24:28through its skin.
24:30These fish have built-in antifreeze proteins to survive the freezing waters, and they can't live anywhere warmer.
24:37Even stranger, they don't have hemoglobin, the protein that makes our blood red.
24:43In other words, they survive without the stuff that literally keeps most animals alive.
24:48But Antarctica wasn't always the frozen desert we know today.
24:53Millions of years ago, before the Ice Age, it was actually warm, lush, and full of life, maybe even home
25:01to ancient civilizations.
25:03Hard to imagine, huh?
25:05Scientists figured this out after finding fossilized wood, tropical tree remains, and leaf impressions,
25:11all pointing to the existence of rainforests.
25:15On top of that, they've uncovered fossils of marine animals, birds, and dinosaurs from the Cretaceous period.
25:23Even tiny creatures left their mark.
25:25Fossilized beetle wings from 14 to 20 million years ago.
25:30Single-cell fossils.
25:31And, astonishingly, 50-million-year-old sperm cells preserved in the egg case of an extinct worm.
25:39So, now, it probably won't shock you when I tell you that beneath Antarctica's thick ice sheets,
25:45there's a massive hidden mountain range.
25:48The Gambertzi Mountains stretch for 745 miles and rise to almost 10,000 feet,
25:55about the third the height of Mount Everest.
25:58And all this is buried under between 6,500 to 13,100 feet of ice.
26:05The mountains were discovered in 1958.
26:08Scientists noted a thin patch of ice and some weird gravity readings while crossing the continent.
26:14Even though no one has ever seen those mountains directly,
26:18researchers use radar to map their shape and gravitational and magnetic readings
26:23to study them all the way to their base.
26:26Perhaps the craziest part is that the Gambertzis are around a billion years old.
26:31So, in theory, they should have eroded away long ago.
26:35How they're still standing is a mystery.
26:38Most scientists think a frozen mantle beneath the ice might be protecting them from erosion,
26:44keeping this ancient range intact.
26:47And finally, Antarctica has its own soundtrack.
26:51The Ross Ice Shelf, the continent's largest ice shelf,
26:54is several hundred feet thick and spreads over 193,000 square miles,
27:00roughly the size of France.
27:02And scientists have recently discovered that this massive ice slab actually sings.
27:07The eerie melody comes from wind blowing over snow dunes,
27:12which creates vibrations in the ice and a nearly continuous seismic hum.
27:17You can't hear it with your ears, but seismic sensors pick up the mournful tune.
27:22In fact, it was discovered by accident.
27:26Scientists just installed special sensors to monitor other ice behaviors.
27:30Now, even cooler, the song changes depending on what's happening on the ice.
27:36Melting, storms, and shifting snow all tweak the vibrations.
27:40Researchers are now using this haunting melody as a kind of early warning system.
27:45They listen to it in real time to track the ice shelf stability and potential collapse.
27:52Whoops!
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