East Antarctica's 30 subglacial basins form one connected fan-shaped structure
The basins that steer East Antarctica's glaciers toward the sea form one connected structure, not scattered features. Researchers mapped 30 of them radiating from a single point under ice up to 3 km thick: the East Antarctic Fan-shaped Basin Province. In Nature Geoscience.
The basins that decide how fast East Antarctica's glaciers slide toward the ocean are not the scattered, separate features scientists long assumed. A new study in Nature Geoscience reports that 30 of these subglacial basins, buried under ice up to three kilometers thick, all radiate outward from a single pivot point deep in the continent's interior. Together they form one connected system the researchers have named the East Antarctic Fan-shaped Basin Province. The structure absorbs some of Antarctica's best-known hidden landmarks, including the Wilkes and Aurora basins and the basin that holds Lake Vostok, the largest subglacial lake on Earth. The team describes it as possibly one of the largest examples of rotational extension ever identified in continental crust, with roots in the breakup of the ancient Gondwana supercontinent and the later split between Antarctica and Australia. Why it matters beyond geology: these basins guide where and how fast ice flows. Understanding that they are one linked structure, shaped over roughly 150 million years, gives researchers a clearer baseline for modeling how the ice sheet responds as the climate warms.