Active breakdown of glaciers could reveal entrances to hidden caves
The mighty ice shell of Antarctica is increasingly cracking and melting in our time. British scientists have found an explanation for such phenomena. However, even they are not able to imagine what amazing secrets can be revealed as a result of such destructive processes on the polar continent.
Jenny Turton of the British Antarctic Expedition made an interesting presentation at the recent International Conference of the European Union of Earth Sciences. She and her colleagues came to the conclusion that the reason for the aggravated process in recent years of the rapid melting of Antarctic glaciers and the formation of giant cracks in them was powerful winds carrying masses of relatively warm air over the surface of the mainland - the so-called wind-blowers.
A similar phenomenon is typical for mountainous areas. Wind-blowers are streams of dry air that move from the tops of the mountains to their foothills, gradually heating up as a result of a rapid descent through narrow valleys. It is the hair dryers who are credited with the fact that the climate in the mountains is often milder compared to the calculations of climatologists. Such natural “heat guns” can pose a real threat: by accelerating the melting of snow, they cause avalanches and floods.
Scientists from the British Antarctic Expedition found out that on the Southern continent the wind-blowers are now almost the main "regulators" of climatic conditions.
Over the course of five years, the British have been observing the occurrence of wind-blowers in the area of the Larsen Glacier, one of the "weakest" areas of the Antarctic ice shell. (It was here that the formation of two super-icebergs was observed in the recent past. Due to the large cracks in the ice mass in 1995 and 2002, huge chunks broke off from the glacier and went on an independent voyage through the sea.)
“We found that the blowing winds start blowing in September, three months before the start of the Antarctic summer, and already at that time the ice starts to melt,” said Jenny Turton. “Now, as a result of our research, we know that these winds blow virtually constantly during the spring and summer seasons.”
This statement is supported by the statistical observations of British specialists. On the Larsen Glacier, out of every three days, two were windy: the hair dryers were blowing in full force. At the same time, it was found that they penetrate much further inland than previously assumed by scientists.
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According to Turton, now, based on the data collected, it is necessary to assess how much such winds affect the state of the Antarctic ice sheets.
Scientists are already sure that it is thanks to the hair dryers that the process of ice cracking is accelerated. The situation is aggravated by the water that has appeared as a result of melting: its streams form streams and rivers, washing out giant "cuts" in the ice mass. As a result, huge chunks are increasingly breaking off from the glaciers.
The consequences of such processes can be very unpleasant. More and more icebergs will appear in the seas, which will interfere with shipping and provoke dangerous situations a la Titanic. And the rise in sea level from such impressive "gifts" will only accelerate.
However, some "explorers of the unknown" hope that the progressive destruction of the Antarctic ice sheet will finally reveal perhaps the main secret of this harsh continent. We are talking about the discovery of entrances to huge caves, which are believed to exist in considerable numbers in Antarctica, under the crumbling ice.
The American specialist in "remote sensing of the surface of the planets" Joseph Skipper several years ago already saw a large hole on one of the satellite images of the southern continent, which could be the entrance to one of these caves. An additional intrigue to this geographical surprise is given by the fact that this cave was discovered in the area of Queen Maud Land - exactly where, according to legends, the Antarctic secret base was organized by the German Nazis.
The story is extremely interesting. It is known for certain that the leaders of Hitler's Third Reich showed an increased interest in Antarctica. Since the mid-1930s, their secret research organization "Ahnenerbe" has equipped several expeditions there (even specially modernized submarines took part in them).
In 1939, on the coast in the area of Queen Maud Land, the Germans discovered a very strange for the Antarctic landscape, an area of about 40 square kilometers, free of ice. The Hitlerite "Argonauts" decided to adapt this territory for their base and gave it the name - New Swabia.
But why were all these polar undertakings? - It turns out that the belief spread among the Nazi "elite" that this continent is hollow. In the depths, under the thickness of the ice shell, there are huge cavities, and the temperature in them is quite comfortable for humans (super-caves are heated from the inside from the earth's interior). And in these vast caves, traces of some ancient highly developed civilization have been preserved.
There is a version that during one of the Antarctic expeditions, a German submarine discovered the cherished passage to the mouth of a giant cave. As a result, the Germans were able to penetrate into the underground Antarctic voids and discovered some obviously man-made structures in them. Later, at the end of World War II, they transported thousands of people (“representatives of the pure Aryan nation”), equipment and materials from Germany, equipped entire underground cities and factories by submarines. (According to one - absolutely fantastic! - version, after the surrender of Nazi Germany, Hitler and Eva Braun were delivered to the Antarctic "cache" in a submarine after the surrender of Nazi Germany.) It was at these factories that the German specialist managed to master the manufacture of fundamentally new aircraft - "flying saucers".
All this jumble of "facts" looks, of course, unconvincing. However, some moments have really received confirmation in our time. For example, several years ago, during a careful study of the huge subglacial Antarctic Lake Vostok, scientists were convinced that the temperature in the lower layers of it exceeds plus 10 degrees. So the story with the "warm" caves in the interior of the continent received at least part of its confirmation.
Perhaps the next giant ice fractures that have arisen in Antarctica will expose the entrances to some of these hidden spaces in front of the researchers. And what can be found in them is too early to even fantasize.
A "saucer" or other UFO flying out from somewhere out of the ground is quite possible for some.
Alexander Dobrovolsky