At over 1000 km long, 1500 metres deep, and 26.5 kilometres wide at the top, it was discovered during the country's latest Antarctic expedition to the South Pole.
The world’s largest canyon far larger than the Grand
Canyon in the United States has been spotted by the Chinese scientists
who took part in the country’s latest Antarctic expedition to the South
Pole.
The canyon, more than 1000 kilometres’ long,
1500 metres deep, and 26.5 kilometres wide at the top, is larger than
the Grand Canyon and is the largest canyon discovered on earth,
state-run Xinhua quoted Chinese scientists who took part in China’s 32nd
Antarctic expedition as saying.
Giant wetland beneath Antarctic ice
China’s
expedition team, which launched the search around the Princess
Elizabeth Area of the South Pole in last November, has also found many
sub-glacial lakes and currents connected to the canyon, forming a giant
“wetland” beneath the Antarctic ice.
They also
detected large-scale “warm ice” under the sheet along with a number of
lakes. Warm ice can easily be melted into water.
‘Will increase research in the area’
“It is very exciting that Chinese scientists led the survey and made
the findings,” Sun Bo, vice-leader of the expedition team said. He said
the achievements would help significantly with research in the area.
In recent years, science circles speculated through satellite remote
sensing measures that there should be a giant canyon or lake covered by
ice in the Princess Elizabeth Area.
The Chinese
expedition team had surveyed an area of 8,66,000 km with the aid of
China’s first fixed-wing aircraft, carrying an ice radar, high-precision
differential GPS system.
China launched its 32nd Antarctic expedition with the research vessel and icebreaker Xuelong (Snow Dragon) on November 7.
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