Polargap subglacial highlands
| Polargap subglacial highlands | ||
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| location | Queen Elizabeth Land ( West Antarctica ) and Coatsland ( East Antarctica ) | |
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| Coordinates | 84 ° 0 ′ S , 21 ° 0 ′ W | |
The Polargap subglacial highlands comprise a 650 km long and 500 km wide region of mountains hidden under the Antarctic Ice Sheet on the border between the West Antarctic Queen Elizabeth Land and the East Antarctic Coatsland . Its mean height is 500 m , the highest peaks reach 1000 m and the deepest valleys are 300 m below sea level . They separate two of the largest glacier systems in Antarctica , namely that of the East Antarctic Recovery Glacier from the common West Antarctic of the Support Force Glacier and the Foundation Ice Stream . The boundaries of the Highlands run between the Recovey Glacier and the Whichaway Nunatakkern in the north, a depression at 87 ° south latitude between the Pensacola Mountains and the geographic South Pole and a series of subglacial lakes at around 15 ° east latitude in the east.
The UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee named the subglacial highlands in 2018. It was named after the PolarGAP project (2015-2016) of the European Space Agency (ESA) to close the gap in the overall topographical mapping of Antarctica .
Web links
- Polargap Subglacial Highlands . Entry in the database of the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee for the Antarctic Peninsula, the South Shetland and the South Orkney Islands (English)