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NASA mission reveals mega-canyon beneath Greenland ice sheet

NASA mission reveals mega-canyon beneath Greenland ice sheet

A team of scientists working with NASA's Operation IceBridge have discovered an immense mega-canyon underneath the ice sheet of Greenland.

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At around 800 metres deep and over 750 kilometres long, this mega-canyon stretches over one and a half times the length of the Grand Canyon! The researchers believe that the mega-canyon was formed millions of years ago, predating the formation of the Greenland ice sheet.

It was only a few months ago that similar work showed us a detailed look at the hidden continent under the ice of Antarctica, and it's pretty amazing that we're still making these kinds of discoveries.

"One might assume that the landscape of the Earth has been fully explored and mapped," said Prof. Jonathan Bamber, of the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, who led the study, according to Science@NASA. "Our research shows there's still a lot left to discover."

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