The discovery of fragments of an ancient continent deep beneath the surface of Antarctica has left scientists shocked. The data that revealed the continent has been collected from a gravity-mapping satellite that has been out of service since 2013. This is the European Space Agency's Gravity Field and Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite. 

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The satellite was used to map out Earth’s gravity field, and destroyed by the ESA four years later. Despite being out of service, it still has some invaluable data which scientists are using to map out the Earth’s lithosphere, an outer section of the planet’s internal geology.

The study was published in Scientific Reports.

“These gravity images are revolutionizing our ability to study the least understood continent on Earth — Antarctica,” study co-author Fausto Ferraccioli, science leader of geology and Geophysics at the British Antarctic Survey, said.

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Due to vast swathes of ice sheet, it has been a trouble to study Antarctica's history and what lies under it. The latest data is now helping scientists learn the geological history of Antarctica and where it lay billions of years ago.

Also Read: What lies below the Antarctica ice sheet? Rocky mountains, canyons and...

Antarctica's movements in the last 200 million years

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The study details how much Antarctica has moved over the last 200 million years. The same has been illustrated in a video showing the movement of continents. Antarctica can be seen breaking apart from Gondwana, a subsection of the supercontinent Pangea.

Gondwana started to break up over 180 million years ago to form India, Australia, and Antarctica, which moved to their current locations.

Antarctica was once linked to India and Australia

Scientists found pieces of ancient continental plates lying a mile under not only Antarctica but also Australia and India, proving that East Antarctica and the two countries were once joined together. However, similar fragments, or cratons, were not found under West Antarctica.

Also Read: Cabin fever? Scientists in Antarctica research base are scared for their life. Here's why

“In East Antarctica, we see an exciting mosaic of geological features that reveal fundamental similarities and differences between the crust beneath Antarctica and other continents it was joined to until 160 million years ago,” Ferraccioli said.

The discovery of this ancient continent under Antarctica reveals what it looked like millions of years ago and how its geology affects the ice sheet on the cold continent. Scientists now aim to understand how the current continent of Antarctica might respond to the changing climate.

Mountains and canyons under Antarctica

Another study recently created a new map of the landscape lying under Antarctica. A team of international scientists led by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) showed what lies under the continent. Bedmap3 shows what Antarctica might look like without its 27 million cubic km of ice. There are tall mountains and deep canyons lying under the thick ice sheet.