 disclaimer: image is for illustration purposes only |
The Gamburtsev Mountains are evidence of a counterintuitive theory that glaciers don't always carve down and erode mountains but can in certain conditions protect them, ScienceNews.org reported Friday.
"It's feasible for topography to be preserved," Stephen Cox, a graduate student at Caltech and coauthor of a study paper, says.
The study of the range's erosion rate during the past 250 million years found the Gamburtsevs eroded just 1-1/2 miles to 5 miles, an order of magnitude slower than modern erosion in places like the Alps and other mountain ranges.
Cold glaciers or ice sheets atop the mountains could have protected them from experiencing normal erosion rates, Cox and his fellow researchers suggest.
"When you get to colder climates, glaciers are actually frozen to the rock," says geologist Stuart Thomson of the University of Arizona in Tucson, a coauthor of the paper. "They flow a little, but they don't erode much at all."
Radar surveys through the ice have confirmed the range is unusually rugged, with V-shaped valleys rather than the U-shaped ones characteristic of normal glacial erosion.
 del.icio.us |
 Digg |
 Reddit |
 YahooMyWeb |
 Google |
 Facebook |
Resolving The Paradox Of The Antarctic Sea Ice| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
